Sermons on the characters of the Old Testament

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SERMONS

CHAEACTEES

OF

THE OLD TESTAMENT.

BT

THE EEV. ISAAC WILLIAMS, B.D,

LATE FELLOW OV TBINITT COLLEGE. OXFORD.

LONDON:

RIVINGTONS, WATERLOO PLACE.

18&e.

/^^.

/■^^^

LOMDOV:

eiLBERT AMD BIVINOTON, PKINTER8,

■T. JOHM't SQUABS.

PREFACE.

The Sermons in this Volume, with the exception of
that on Job, are arranged according to the order of
the Sunday Lessons ; and indeed the selection of the
characters has been regulated in some measure with
this view. The concluding Sermon on Antichrist
was not written with any reference to this series;
but, independently of other reasons for its introduc-
tion, it is so connected with some of the subjects as
to render it a suitable termination for the Volume.

While such works are in some sense offered to the
public, yet rather would the Writer in this as in all
other things wish to look up more entirely to the
Author of all good ; and, as the " lad with five barley
loaves," present these through His Church to the gra^
cious Eye of his Divine Master ; if peradventure He
would look on them and accept them, and, if he might
say it without presumption, take them into His all-
hallowing hands, and multiply and sanctify them to
the great ends of giving food to His people.

Stixchcombe,
October. 1856.

A 2

CONTENTS-

SEEMON I.

ADAM.

PAGE
1 Cob. xy. 22. — ^^ For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive " 1

SEEMON IL

ABEL AliTD CAIN.

Hbb. xi. 4. — " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excel-
lent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, Grod testifying of his gifts " .12

SEEMON ni.

KOAH.

GsN. T. 29.— ''And he called his name Noah, sayiog, This
same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of
our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath
cursed" 2|4

VI CONTENTS.

SEEMON IV.

ABBAHAM.

PAGE
Gen. xxiL 11. — ^''And the angel of the Lord called unto
him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham " . 36

SEEMON V.

LOT.

Gen. xiii. 1 1. — " Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan ;
and Lot journeyed East : and they separated themselves
the one from the other " 48

SEEMON VI.

JACOB AND ESAIJ.

Mal. i. 2, 3.—'' Was not Esau Jacob's brother ! saith the

Lord : yet I loved Jacob,
"And I hated Esau" ....... 60

SEEMON VII.

JOSEPH.

Gen. xlix. 23, 24.—" The archers havi» sorely grieved him,
and shot at him, and hated him :

** But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands
were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of
Jacob" ... 72

CONTENTS. VU

SEEMON VIII.

MOSES.

PAGE

Numb. xii. 3. — ^ Now the man Moses was very meek, above
all the men which were upon the face of Uie earth " . 85

SEEMON IX.

AABON.

Heb. v. 4. — " And no man taketh this honour unto himself,
but he that is called of God, as was Aaron " • . -97

SEEMON X.

PHABAOH.

ExOD. ix. 12.— ^ And the Lord hardened the heart of
Pharaoh" Ill

SEEMON XI.

KOBAH, DATHAN, AND ABIBAM.

Numb. zvi. 23, 24. — ** And the Lord spake unto Moses, say-
ing. Speak unto the congregation, saying, Gret you up
from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram" 123

SEEMON XII.
BALAAM.

Numb, xxiii. 10. — ** Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his!" 136

Vm CONTEKTS.

SEEMON Xin.

JOBHTJA.

PAGE

Deut. xxxL 23. — ^ And he gave Joehua the son of Nan a
charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage : for
thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land
which I sware unto them : and I will be with thee " • 148

SEEMON XIV.

SAMSON.

JuDG. xiiL 24. — ^ And the woman bare a son, and called his
name Samson ; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed
him" 160

SEEMON XV.

SAMUEL.

1 Sam. L 20.^" She bare a son, and called his name Samuel,
saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord '* • . 172

SEEMON XVI.

SAUL.

1 Sam. xvi. 14.^^ But the Spirit of the Lord departed from
Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him " .184

SEEMON XVn.

DATTD.

Acts xiiL 22. — ^^ To whom also He gave testimony, and said,
I have found David the son of Jesse^ a man after Mine
own heart" 197

CONTENTS,. IX

SEEMON XVIII.

SOLOMON.

PAGE

Nbh. xiii. 26. — ^ Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by
these things? yet among many nations "was there no
king like him^ who was beloved of his God " • . • 210

SEEMON XIX.

ELIJAH.

St. James y. 17* — '^ Elias was a man subject to like passions
as we are " 222

SEEMON XX.

AHAB.

1 Kings xxL 25. — *< But there was none like unto Ahab,

which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight
of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up *' . . 232

SEEMON XXI.

ELISHA.

2 Kings ii. 9, 10. — ** And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a

double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
*< And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing ; nevertheless,
if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall
be so unto thee " .« 242

SEEMON XXn.

HBZBBXAJff.

2 Kings xviii 5.—^ He trusted in the Lord God of Israel ;
so that after him was none like him among all the kings
of Judah, nor any that were before him "... 253

a

X OOKTENTS.

SEEMON XXin.

JOSIAH.

PAGE

2 Chbon. xxxiv. 27.— '' Because thine heart was tender, and
thou didst humhle thyself before God, when thoa
heardest His words against this pUuse, and against the
inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before Me,
and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before Me ; I
have even heard thee also, saith the Lord " . . . 264

SEEMON XXIV.

JEBEMIAH.

Jer. ix. 1,2. — ^'Oh that my head were waters, and mine
eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and
night for the slain of the daughter of my people I Oh
that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-
faring men ; that I might leave my people and go from
them!" 276

SEEMON XXV.

EZEEXBL.

EzEK. xxxiiii. 32. — '^ And, lo, thou art unto them as a very
lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can
play well on an instrument : for they hear thy words,
but they do them not " . . • . . . .288

SEEMON XXVI.

"DAITDSJi,

Dan. X. 11.— '^ And He said unto me, O Daniel, a man
greatly beloved " .SOI

CONTENTS. XI

SEBMON XXVII.

JOEL.

PAGE

Joel i. 1.-^^ The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son
of Pethuel" 316

SEEMON XXVIII.

JOB.

St. Jambs y. 11. — ^ Ye have heard of the patience of Job,
. and have seen the ^d of the Lord " . . . . 327

SEEMON XXIX.

ISAIAH.

St. John xiL 41. — " These things said Esaias, when he saw
His glory, and spake of Him " 338

SEEMON XXX.

THE ANTICHBIST.

2 Thbss. iL 3. — ^ Let no man deceive you by any means : for
that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of per-
dition" ......... 349

SERMON L

ADAM.

1 Corinthians xy. 22.

" For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive."

The state of our first parents in Paradise must always
be a mystery to us ; we can form no conception of a
condition in which there was no death, and none of
the sad company of death, sin and fear and care and
pain. But in this our ignorance all has been told us
which it is good for us to know ; and their trial and
fall is so like what we ourselves experience, that we
understand it but too well. We find in ourselves the
like mystery of evil when we sin against better know-
ledge, forfeit our great strength, choose death instead
of life, and give up our God in exchange for some
passing temptation.

First of all, then, we read that God made man in
His own image and likeness, capable of knowing and
loving Him as the inferior creatures could not;
He set him in dominion over them; He endowed
him too with every gift which the perfection of
his nature required; He imparted to him an inti-

I. »

1! ADAM.

mate knowledge of all the creatures, so tbat be could
give them suitable names such as God approved;
He placed him in a garden, which He is described as,
in some especial and pre-eminent manner, furnishing
very richljr for his use ; He added also an associate,
whom, as a part of himself, he might cherish with a
more intimate love ; and, more than all, God Himself
conversed with him, without his being overcome with
shame or fear, and, as it is described, walked with him
in the garden. Thus He made him to be like His
own image below, crowned above all the creatures
with understanding, and adorned with gifts both
within and without. But this was not all — for God
made with Adam a covenant of everlasting life,
dependent on his obedience, annexing to that obedi-
ence the gift of immortality ; for in addition to all
other gifts was the Tree of Life, and hard by it in the
midst of the garden, the Tree of Blnowledge, to be
the trial of obedience. Thus was he called by this
covenant of grace from all earthly pleasures and
endowments, to the " more excellent way " of charity ;
that charity which is " proof against " all temptations ;
charity which "never faileth;" charity which is con-
tent to be without the " knowledge that puffeth up ;"
which obeys because it loves, and loves because it
trusts, and is therefore ever wont to look up to and to
lean on God ; till faith, " rooted and grounded in love,"
when perfected by obedience, might be translated to a
higher and securer state of bliss with God Himself in
Heaven. And the place of this covenant of grace
was "in the midst of the garden:" as the sun is the
centre of the universe, which without him would be
dead; so did obedience to this one command give
order and beauty to that Paradise, when all was

ADAM. 3

obedient to man, because man was obedient to
God.

Thus were they in a state of perfect innocence and
happiness: but their life was not in themselves, it
was dependent on God, and they were made to feel
this their dependence upon Him, in their liability to
fall ; it was therefore a life of faith, because it was a
condition of trial and obedience. Their happiness
was in the love of God, in Whose likeness they were
made ; and while they had that love, faith in Him
would be their strength, and obedience their de-
light. The free gift is made them that they " may
eat of every tree of the garden," except one only;
and when that one exception is made, it is with the
promise of life on their obedience. If they eat not of
that forbidden tree they shall live ; and therefore with
that Tree of Knowledge is the Tree of Life. And as
Qx)d giveth not as man giveth, but liberally and
abundantly beyond words, we may conclude that
therein was implied that such obedience would lead to
a more perfect and blissful immortality. For their
present life on earth was then precarious, and depend-
ent on means from without, that Tree of Life to which
they had access ; it was not of that " Well of Life *'
which is with God, which is from within, ever " spring-
ing up unto everlasting life."

Moreover, another peculiar gift ia spoken of. It is
said that God *' breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life," and in consequence " man became a living
soul," i.e. a soul capable of that better life which is in
God. For what was this breath of God but that
He infused into him of His Divine Spirit, clothed
him with that vesture of immortality, whereby after
having been created in the similitude of God, he
B 2

4 ADAM.

migbt look up to Heaven, as " waiting for the revela-
tion of the sons of God," and the crown and fulness of
that angelic nature ? Thus then was it that God had
not onljr " set him over the works of His hands," but
He " visited him," and " crowned him with glory and
worship." He had set His love on the man He had
formed, and in this the greatness of His love, He
sought for the love of man in return, his free love and
choice, which could only be shown by this obedience.

And now we come to the mysterious origin of evil,
which has been ever since so intimately with us, which
wraps us about as our very clothing, enters into us as
the food we eat, as the air we breathe, is with us, in us,
and about us, and lets not go its hold on us till we die.
But "the serpent said unto the woman. Tea, hath
God said, Te shall not eat of every tree of the garden ? "
Here, then, we have disclosed in its fulness the exist-
ence and craft of an evil spirit bent on our ruin ; and
his entering into the serpent, as afterwards, by our
Lord's permission, the devils entering into the swine,
sets before us how they may take possession of those
whom God hath made, and hence of the body and of the
soul of man. Add to which that his making the crea-
ture the instrument of evil, seems to account for the
animal creation around us being united and sharing, for
some mysterious reasons, in the sufferings of mankind.

"And the woman said unto the serpent. Of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Te shall not eat of it, neither shall ye
touch it, lest ye die." Now though Eve was as yet
sinless, we may see in this reply the first faint ten-
dency to her falling away from God. The command
which God had given to Adam was, ^' Thou shalt not
eat of it," but Eve adds here the words, " Neither

sliall ye touch it." She overstates, as it were, the
prohibition ; like the Pharisees afterwards whom our
Lord condemned, she thus added to the word of God.
Not is this all ; for at the same time she diminishes
from it, for God had said to Adam, " Thou shalt surely
die," or " Dying thou shalt die," which is a very strong
expression ; but she softens it down, and says merely,
"Lest ye die." She adds to God's word like the
Pharisee — she takes away from it like the Sadducee.
She adds to the command — takes away from the
warning. Thus all is gradual, the serpent insinuatejs
a poisonous question, then Eve doubts God's word,
and then the serpent denies it. " Lest ye die," says
Eve. " Te shall not die," adds the tempter.

"While this is at work in the heart, what follows ?
" I have made a covenant with mine eyes," says Job,
taught by the sad experience of mankind ; but not so
was it now. " The woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a
tree to be desired to make one wise." All her life and
bliss was in God, and in union with God ; but now
she desired something out of God. Por these three
things contain all the temptations to which mankind
are subject, as St. John states them, " the lust of the
flesh," for it was good for food ; " the lust of the eyes,"
for it was pleasant to behold; and "the pride of
life," for it was to be desired to make one wise, yea, as
gods. " All these," says St. John, " are not of the
Pather, but are of the world ;" and " if any man love
the world, the love of the Pather is not in him ^"

Thus are these temptations put in motion by Satan ;
he stealthily approaches like a serpent wherever he

1 IJohnU. 15, ] 6.

6 ADAM.

finds access, advancing by little and little with great
subtlety, first through the creature, then by the
weaker vessel ; tempting the woman by the fruits of
the garden, in which as a serpent he lay hid, and thus
winding his way to the man as it were on the weaker
side, by his love for the woman, through that new
and great gift, the love of his espousals. And what is
the first result of this act of disobedience ? Instead
of the likeness of Gk)d, Eve puts on the likeness of
Satan ; she at once takes part vdth the serpent ; she
also now acts as a tempter, and, in so doing, brings
death on one whom she loved ; " She gave to her hus-
band, and he did eat." So is it with sin at all times ; no
one falls alone ; those nearest and dearest are often
injured by every sin of ours — and, oh ! terrible thought,
may lose on our account life eternal. Here in the
germ is the fulness of all sin ; some secret presump-
tion that goes before a fall ; then the devil tempting ;
then doubt of God ; and then evil curiosity ; and then
the influence of example which spreads the sin, that
fearful net of the wicked one, entangling all around in
the society of evil.

Their innocence was gone— their covenant vdth Qoi
was broken — of their better nature shame alone
remained ; in this shame alone is their hope ', inas-
much it is an acknowledgment of sin, and might there-
fore lead to repentance. Disobeying God, their own
nature was no longer obedient to themselves, and they
were ashamed of it, for it had other desires than the
will of God, " another law in their members bringing
them into captivity to the law of sin '•" And whereas

> St. Ambrose, De Paradiso, cap. xiv.

* Rom. vii. 23 ; St. Aug. yoL x. 612. 1303.

ADAH. 7

before they knew nothing but good, they now know
both good and evil, the knowledge which it would
have been infinitely better never to have had, the
knowledge of evil spirits, of the good they have lost,
of the evil they have chosen. " They saw that they
were naked," for not till then were they divested of
God's righteousness ; the clothing of His sanctifying
Spirit, when without shame or fear they conversed
with Q-od : but now they seek for covering from that
shame ; such has ever been the effort of mankind, with
the fading leaves of worldly objects to cover them-
selves ; secretly conscious of their nakedness and deep
internal poverty without God. " They cover with a
covering," says the Prophet, " but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin *."

And they " hid themselves from the presence of the
Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the
Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him,
"Where art thou ? " Lito what abyss of misery art thou
fallen ? from what grace and hope art thou lost*?

And now if Eve had before acted as Satan the
tempter, so Adam is now as Satan the accuser, for he
says, " The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Here is no
humiliation — no confession. Yes, I did eat; the
woman gave me, and Thou gavest me the woman ; it
is all from Thee ! Oh, sad change, what a return to
God for all His gifts ! They hide among the trees,
they cover their shame with leaves; and now with
pretext and excuse.

'* And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and
I did eat." She too, as Adam, casts the guilt upon

* Isa. XXX. 1. » St. Ambrose.

8 ADAM.

another ; yet here indeed there is in some sort con-
fession of sin; and therefore gives ground for par-
don'. But oh, how much has mankind to suffer
before they come to that true contrition of heart
which says with the Psalmist, "I said, Lord, have
mercy on me ; heal my soul, for I have sinned against
thee '." The affictions of Job ; the trials of Joseph ;
the endurance of Moses; the contrition of David;
the confessions of Daniel; the sorrows of the- Pro-
phets ; the tears of St. Peter ; the travails of St.
Paul ; the sufferings of Saints and the blood of Mar-
tyrs ; have yet to prove this humiliation of man, in
order that he might be accepted in the Second Adam ;
and these answers of our first parents may be undone
or amended. And this healing is in the merciful
sentence, "in sorrow shalt thou bring forth:" and
^'in sorrow shalt thou eat," "till thon return unto
the ground." Tea, the very voice of the accepted
One shall be heard as it were from the ground, and
speaking from the dust of death, " I am a worm and
no man." Thus not in sorrow only but in death itself
shall be found the means and hope of restoration;
when " love shall be stronger than death ;" and dying
in Christ; yea, exercised in dying shall bring forth
more abundant life; for in conformity to Christ's
death is life.

Thus, in taking the shame, and the sorrow, and the
death, Christ restores again to the Paradise of Qod.
Por this Paradise is the Church of God, " the garden
inclosed," on which, as " the winds blow, the spices flow
out;" wherein is the " well of living waters *." And

* St. Ambrose. ' Ps. xL 6 ; St. Aug. vol. iiL 467.

^ Song of Solomon iv. 15, 16.

tbere too is the Tree of Life which hath " leaves," it
is said, "for the healing of the nations;" there is
also in it a river not from the ground as in that
Eden of old, but "proceeding out of the throne of
Q-od and of the Lamb." Wherein He Himself says,
" I will give to him that overcometh to eat of the
tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise
of Q-od." Eor, in Him they shall. He says, "have
right to the tree of life'." In the centre of that
garden ; yea, " in the midst of the Paradise of GK>d,"
restoring all again to love, and harmony, and peace,
is He Himself; in whom is there a better knowledge
and a better life which He will impart to them that
love Him ; for in Him are all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge ; and " our life is hid with Christ in
God." In that Paradise He Himself walks again
with man, for it is said, " I will walk among you, and
be your God, and ye shall be My people \" Tea,
He hath clothed their shame again with the covering of
His righteousness, and hath said, " They shall walk
with Me in white '." And " they shall see His face."
He hath again renewed them in His image. Nay
more, by another transcendental endowment of which
that in Paradise was the sign, on His rising from
the dead, He hath " breathed into their nostrils the
breath of life^" by the gift of His Spirit ; that in the
likeness of His resurrection, "putting on the new
man," they may be again "created after God in
righteousness and true holiness*;" — that like Adam
of old, they may keep His commandments, and by
keeping them in this Paradise of trial which is His

• Rev. ii. 7 ; xxii. 14. * Lev. xxvi. 1 2.

a Rev. iii. 4. » St. John xx. 22. * Eph. iv. 24.

10 ADAM.

Church, thej may at length be fitter for a better
Paradise, and the Presence of God in Heaven.

From the creation of man unto this day Ids history
has been, in those words of , the Psalmist, " In my pros-
perity I said, I shall never be moved: Thou, Lord,
of Thy goodness hast made my hill so strong. Thou
tumedst away Thy face, and I was troubled *.'* And
then, troubled and exercised with many sorrows under
the displeasure of G-od he hath come to learn indeed
to know both good and evil ; — the evil of departing
from Gt)d ; our only good to be in Him ; His good-
ness and His love in Christ ; good and evil, the depth
and fulness of which we shall know even yet far
better when we depart from the body, when it is
known what heaven and hell are ; when Satan's words
shall become true in a way he little thought, to the
elect of God, when knowing both good and evil they
shall be as gods, shall be "made partakers," as St.
Peter says, "of the divine nature," shall be made
one with the Son of God, " shall be like Him," and
" awaking up after His likeness shall be satisfied with
it."

One word more in conclusion. As man fell by
pride, his return must be by humility : his pride was
the poison of Satan, " that ye may be as gods ;" but
in order that we might be restored. He who was
indeed Very God emptied Himself of all His glories
that He might become man for our sakes. Instead
of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge "He learned
obedience by the things which He suffered." He has
given us an example by which we might overcome
in Him; and has set forth in Himself as it were,

• Ps. XXX. 6, 7 ; St. Aug. vol. iii. 445.

ADAM. 11

an epitome of our life-long . conflict, in a trial cor-
responding to that in which Adam fell, when in the
wilderness He encountered and overcame that old
serpent; not in a garden but in a desert; not in
abundance but in hunger; not in manifestation of
His divine power, but meekly shielding Himself
against all temptations by the written Word of God ;
showing us by what means we are to overcome, — that
we have each of us in like manner with our first
parents, an enemy to contend with, a trial to undergo,
a Paradise to lose, a kingdom of Heaven set before us
to obtain. And in order that we may be in Him
equal to this conflict, He, ''the Last Adam," has
for us " been made a quickening Spirit," and has given
us to eat of His Body and Blood, as the antidote of
death, and indwelling of immortality, that " as in Adam
all die," all in Him may "be made alive." And
this with a pledge that in greater fulness He will
" give to him that overcometh " to partake of that life
which is in Him, admitting even by death itself into
a greater nearness with Himself and saying to the dying
thief, " To day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise."

These things are not then afar off", my brethren ; He
Himself in death shall lead us unharmed by the
" flaming sword " of the " Cherubims ;" yea, even this
day, or to-morrow, or next week, you or I, if found
worthy, may, by God's mercy, be admitted into that
His mysterious Presence, of which He spake under
the name of that garden of old.

SERMON 11.

ABEL AND CAIN.

Hebrews xi. 4.

" By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God
testifying of his gifts."

The fall of our first parents is soon followed by a
consummating act of wickedness, such as it will con-
tinue to be to the end of time, the very type and
sign of the world that slew Christ, even a brother's
murder. But though crime has again thus speedily
appeared in a form so intense, yet in one respect it
has assumed a more consoling character, for there
is now a bright and a dark side ; together with Cain
there is Abel with the praise of God and the crown
of goodness : from the same fountain-head there are
now two streams parting asunder, which from hence-
forth flow on to the end of the world, deepening
and enlarging as they go. So soon were they to
know both good and evil, the result of that first
sin. Between those bom of the same womb and
nurtured at the same breast, a separation is made.
It is to be observed that Holy Scripture keeps

ABEL Aim OAnr. 13

this act in continual remembrance, as containing in
itself all that character of evil which still survives and
goes on. Our Lord speaks of Abel, saying to the
Jews, that his blood should be required of that gene-
ration*; when God visits it will be again brought
to mind. St. Paul, mentioning Abel as the first in
the catalogue of saints, uses the memorable words
that "being dead, he yet speaketh;" which seems
to attach an emphatic teaching to his death; and
afterwards, when speaking of the Blood of Christ,
he adds, "which speaketh better things than that
of Abel." Whereby he implies that the death of
Abel does still speak, as does that of Christ, although
it speaks of judgment. Thus he comes down to us
with a voice which is heard from the ground. And
with him necessarily Cain also. St. John brings the
first murderer into especial remembrance, when speak-
ing of one that loves not his brother, " Not as Cain,'*
he says, " who was of that wicked one." Our Lord
seems to allude to him in that warning to the Jews,
" Te are of your father the devil : he was a miu'derer
from the beginning." And St. Jude as crowning
the corruption of the last days, "They have gone
in the way of Cain." Thus did the dimensions of
this crime at once fill as it were the earth and
all time; like some fiery rocket, which, culminating
in an instant, has risen to the sky, and falls
again in a thousand fragments to the earth, holding
in itself and scattering abroad all lesser crimes of ill
will.

Moreover, great as is this crowning deed of wicked-
ness, yet herein is given " the valley of Achor for a
door of hope'," while we behold in Abel the very

1 St. Matt, xxiii. ^, SO. * Hos. u. l<k

14 ABEL AITD OAIK.

tjrpe of all acceptableness, and in contrast with his
brother Cain, in the strongest manner, are good and
evil set before us ; that in the black cloud which then
came on the morning of the world, we may see the
bow of promise, the power of Grod's grace, and by
cleaving to Him suck out the riches of His goodness.
The testimony of Holy Scripture to the character of
Abel is very clear and decisive. Our Lord Himself
calls Abel *^ the righteous Abel;" St. John says that
Cain slew him because " his works were righteous ;"
and St. Paul, that "by faith he offered a more
excellent," or as it is in the original " a more abun-
dant sacrifice," and " obtained the testimony of Gtoi
that he was righteous." Thus goodness and faith
are in Him combined ; and the same appears in the
account in Genesis, for God says to Cain, ** If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ?" from which it
is clear that the acceptance of Abel was because he
did well. And the very nature of his offering ex-
pressed an acceptable &ith; it was "the firstlings of
his flock, and the fat thereof," of the first and the
best he offered to God, the crown and flower of his
substance ; " the firstfruits " and " the fat," both of
which God Himself afterwards prescribed in the Law,
taking this act of Abel as the pattern of after pity.
Moreover it was the Lamb of the flock by whose
skins they were covered from the shame of sin by
God Himself. Such an offering by one of a meek and
blameless life expressed both thanksgiving to Gt>d : and
by sacrifice an acknowledgment of death, and of him-
self worthy to die : it was a call for mercy, a pleading
with God for pardon. And He who reads the heart
and called him by His grace, knew it to be expressive
of Christ. The act of itself speaks and must speak ;
and this he had to perfect by a yet higher sacrifice.

ABEL JlSJ) gain. 15

that of himself; for, on account of his acting in this
manner towards G-od he suffered even unto death, the
first of martyrs.

And all this appears the more from the contrast
with Cain ; he also brings an offering, though it be not
the earliest or the choicest, it is of the fruits of the
ground which he tilled ; here also is worship, and it
might have been acceptable ; the Law also has its
offering of the fruits of the ground : but so it is, it has
not the savour of Christ, the Lamb and the Blood ; it
has not that which should go with a sacrifice, penitence;
nor that which can alone give value to a gift, the
heart of the worshipper. " K thou bring thy gift to
the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath
ought against thee, leave there thy gift." Ifc pleaded
not for mercy ; and it gave not mercy, which is the
better part of sacrifice. In the words of the Law it
has not the salt, nor the oil, nor the incense, was
without goodness, without grace, without prayer.
He is wroth, and his " countenance is fallen," turning
to the ground on which the curse of sin was ; whereas,
Abel was all love, and his countenance was lifted up
on high, as looking for and expecting what G-od would
do. Nor is Cain without warning, for God Himself
expostulates with him, and shows him the better part.
He is not, he says, his brother's keeper ; be it so ; such
is even now the language of the world ; but Christ
and they that are in Him are of another mind ; His
attribute is the good Shepherd that layeth down His
life for the sheep ; He is the keeper of His brethren,
even at the cost of His own life. And Abel is His
prototype and martyr, and in some sense His repre-
sentative, offering up a sacrifice as the High Priest of
God in a fallen world. It matters not whether any

16 ABEL AKD CAIK.

thing was then explicitelj revealed respecting Him
Who should bruise the serpent's head ; the covenant of
God sometimes influences the heart in a way which
passeth understanding. And of the highest saving faith,
our Lord says, " Elesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." The
Father draws unto the Son, and the Son brings unto
the Father, in mysterious ways, without express know-
ledge. It is not knowledge that characterizes faith, but
trust in God, which receives though it knows not,
but in receiving knows with a better knowledge, that
God is love. And this may have been Abel's faith.
An ancient bishop says of his sacrifice, '' Isaiah
preached of the Lamb dumb before His shearers : John
the Baptist pointed out the Lamb of God : Abel by
oflering up the Lamb in significancy set forth the
same'."

Whatever his knowledge might have been, it is
enough that his oflering was for Christ's sake accepted,
and that oflering is the Lamb which must needs speak
of that Lamb which was slain from the foundation
of the world : for all was ordered of God in him who
was first predestined, and called by His grace, and by
His grace sanctified, and perfected by His grace, and
accepted.

And here observe from the very beginning the mark
of the elect and of the reprobate : the love of God is the
sign of the elect : and cupidity or self-love of the evil.
Cain kept to himself the first and the best; Abel
oflered the first and best to God. Nor was this all, it
was in faith, and it was the oflering of one who did
well, and was in life acceptable with God: it was

• St, rJreg. in Job xxxviii. 31.

ABEL ASD CAtN. 17

himself that he had first given to God, and of this
that sacrifice was the sign; and he was allowed to
prove this by having his own life also made to be a yet
more acceptable sacrifice and more lively token of
the death of Christ: as the Christian martyrs who
gave first their goods, and then themselves also to
die.

The crime of Cain was precisely that of the Jews,
envy ; " the chief priests had delivered Him from envy ;"
and perhaps more than any other it partakes of the
likeness of Satan, who was bent on the destruction of
mankind, not from anger, lust, or covetousness, but
from envy and hate of goodness. Cain was the first
Antichrist, and an image of the last. He already sets
forth " the synagogue of Satan " and the Jew, which
preserves his likeness unto the end. " And the Lord
said unto Cain, Where is thy brother ? And he said, I
know not." Thus like him who was " a liar and a
murderer from the beginning," he would deny what
he had done, if he could ; but so is it with the Jew
unto this day, he has slain his brother, even Him who
was, like himself, of the seed of Abraham ; and he is
asked. Where is He ? even by the voice of God, speak-
ing through the Scriptures unto this day. And he
answers, " I know not." Yet it is he who might and
should have been his brother's keeper. Law and
Prophets had consigned Him to his keeping; but
cast out from the presence of God he wanders forth
unto the end of the world, bearing witness to what he
hath done, — the second Cain who hath slain the great
Shepherd of the sheep. And God hath set His mark
upon him that he dies not. Other nations and other
religions melt into each other, and are lost and changed,
but the Jewish people are preserved, and change not.

18 ABEL AJSTD OAIS*.

for they have on them the mark of God. They wander
through the earth, and find no rest, for " they under-
stand not the Sabbath of the heart *,'* which is Christ.
"I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond," says Cain,
and it is the sentence of God that he shall be so :
" the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot
rest. There is no peace, saith my God, to the Vicked*."
Already, like Judas, he hath found the weight of his
sin: "My punishment is greater than I can bear;"
and hath the fear of death, for " every one," he says,
"that findeth me shall slay me ;" as a sign of what shall
be hereafter, fearing death, he shall not be able to die.
True it is that there is another character and
appearance in the eyes of the world, for with them
"these are the ungodly, these prosper in the world'."
The greatest of all cities, even that city of Eome
which put to death Christ and His martyrs, is said
to have been founded by one who slew his brother.
So it is with Cain. It is added, and " he builded a city,
and called it after his son's name." He continues to live
on to old age, he begets children, and sees his children's
children; the founders of mighty cities, wherein the harp
and the organ are heard, and their cattle range on a
thousand hills, inventors in brass and iron are there,
of works of art, of music, and poetry ; " they planted
and builded, they married and gave in marriage ;" but
Abel is cut off childless in the morning of his days.
So is it as the world judges ; but oh, how far otherwise
in truth ! for he is with God, he lives to God and with
God. While they, filling up the measure of their sin,
are heaping up unto themselves wrath " against the

* St. Aug. vol. viii. 382. 385, and vol. vii. 860.
« Isa. Ivii. 20, 21. * Ps. Uxiii. 12.

ABEL AND CAIN. 19

revelation of the righteous judgment of G-od," till the
windows of Heaven shall be opened, and the great
deep rise from below, and wash them all away. It is
an awful sign to live on adding sin to sin. It was as
the voice of Gt)d already going forth upon earth, to
teach mankind that there was a better life hid with
God, that life upon earth was not life without Him,
but death. If the sinner continued to live on it was
but as a sign of the long-suffering of God that He was
not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance.

Thus early was there given to the world, as it were,
an expressive image of Christ's death, whereby He
should bruise the serpent's head, while he attacked His
heel — a more worthy representation than that of slain
beasts. Cain, the firstborn, is of the earth, earthy ;
Abel, the sign of the heavenly, speaks of the Lord from
Heaven. As Isaac, the child of promise, was born after
the son of the bondwoman ; as Jacob was after Esau ;
as the Jew was the elder brother, and the believing
Gentile the younger; as the first Adam was of the
earth, and the second Adam of Heaven, so was it now
foreshown in Cain and Abel. And "cut off from the land
of the living " he bears witness that the inheritance is
not of earth, but with God ; that in death and after
death is his victory. And while thus in mystery he
speaks of Christ's death, Seth is given to mankind on
earth, whose children are called " the sons of God."
Thus it may be said, " he shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days '." And yet further, for while Seth
is made to be a pledge of Christ's resurrection. His
ascension is set forth in Enoch, who walked with God

' Isa. Uii. 10.
C 2

20 ABEL AJSTD CAIS.

and was translated, having first borne witness tbat
" the Lord cometh, with ten thousand of His saints,
to execute judgment *."

Nor is it only in sign and figure that Christ's
death is set forth in Abel the first of martyrs, but
he is also given to be the example of all acceptable
faithfulness. In him have we the firstfruits of the
City of God; the fulness of the last and crowning
beatitude ; " Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness' sake, for their's is the kingdom of Hea-
ven." " For not only," says St. Augustine, " from the
bodily presence of Christ and His Apostles, but from
righteous Abel unto the end of time, amidst the
persecutions of the world, and the consolations of
God, the Church advances onward in her pilgrim-
age';" "Always enduring earth and hoping for
Heaven »."

" Thy brother's blood," said God to Cain, "crieth
unto Me from the ground;" and so it continues
to do until the end; the blood of righteous Abel,
says our Lord, shall be required when God visits:
the blood of Abel, says St. Paul, is still speaking:
with the souls of those that are under the altar it
cries with a voice ever louder and more loud, " How
long, O Lord, Holy and True, dost Thou not judge
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the
earth*?" The blood of Abel thus cries from the
ground, " and the Heavens above," says St. Ambrose,
" and all things that are in Heaven, Sun, Moon, and
Stars, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers,
Cherubim and Seraphim'," take up the cry, and

» Jude 14, 15. » St. Aug. vii. 860.

» St. Aug. iv. 2264. » Rev. vi. 10.

* De Cain et Abel, lib. ii. cap. 10.

ABEL AND GAIN. 21

absolve not the guilt. But although the blood of
Abel thus cries from the ground, yet it is not Abel
himself that thus speaks. It signifies rather that the
wrongs of Abel and of all the meek upon earth are
thus remembered of God. He puts their tears into
His bottle, and these things are noted in His book ;
their sufferings and woes for His sake are numbered
by Him, and not forgotten. " Here is the patience
of the saints *." All things are with God which have
been done to them " whose names are written in the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world*." "Eight dear in His sight is their
death:" and He whom Saul persecuted is slain in
Abel.

The very silence of Abel is expressive ; it seems to
speak of Him who as a sheep before his shearers was
dumb, and as a lamb brought unto the slaughter,
opened not His mouth. His blood calls from the
ground, but he himself is silent ; he appeals not for
vengeance even in death, as if saying, " My cause is in
Thy hands ; Thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my
God." He " committed himself unto Him that judgeth
righteously." All that is said of Abel ; and all that is
left unsaid by him would indicate that he in character
laboured to be like that meek and innocent victim
which he offered up in sacrifice to God. And such
Abel seems to represent in all times and countries
unto the end ; them to whom the Father, it may be in
some hidden manner unknown of man, reveals His
Son, and by some secret bond in the mystery of godli-
ness, knits them unto Him. They are not their own ;
they are of Him, and in Him, and depart to be more

* Rev. xiv. 12. * Rev. xiii. 8.

22 ABEL AJSTD CAIN.

intimately with Him. The world knoweth them not
as it knew Him not— it knoweth not from whence
they come nor whither they go. These are strangers
upon earth ; the world hateth them because they are
of God. Tlieir treasure and their heart are with Him ;
their treasure, because they give Him the first and
best ; and their heart, because their affections must
needs follow their actions. They devote to Him the
first and the best of all ; the first and best of their
substance, the first and best of their time, the fiirst
and best of their affections.

Thus in every age and nation Abel yet speaketh ;
each carries on his example, confirms it by others of
like character and circumstance, and leaves it yet to
speak as it will unto the end ; every place has those
that " have gone in the way of Cain," and also those
that patiently suffer; even among children there is
often, alas, a Cain and Abel — in families, in every
village and neighbourhood — among nations, and in
the wars of nations. It goes on like one continued
chain, still adding link to link ; when the last is
added it reverberates unto the first ; evil as well as
good are as parts of one body ; and each may find in
himself whether he has mostly the marks of Cain or
of Abel.

"When St. John states that, " Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer," and connects this with Cain*,
he seems to refer to our Lord's own declaration, that
though in the Law of Moses it is written, "Thou
shalt do no murder," yet in the eyes of the all-seeing
Judge, " Whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause ^," shall come under the like condemnation.

« 1 John iii. 12. 15. ^ St. Matt. v. 21.

ABEL AKD CAIN. 23

It is this which adds such force to that early deed,
that there is a lesson connected with it which comes
to us, not on tables of stone, but by the finger and
Holy Spirit of G-od, inscribed on the fleshly tables of
the heart, containing in itself the new and better law
of love — a law written in the blood, not of Abel, but
of Christ.

SERMON III.

NOAH.

Genesis v. 29.

'^ And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort
us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the
ground which the Lord hath cursed.*'

Aftee the death of Abel mankind multiplied, cities
were built, the arts increased, iniquity abounded and
God was forgotten ; and then we see one man amidst
the universal corruption, building an ark, and in so
doing set at naught and mocked. This was Noah,
and we may now inquire what was the character of
one so pre-eminent. We cannot know the deep
things of the Spirit of G-od, nor the heart of a good
t man in which as in deep waters His footsteps are ;
but on meditating on what is written we may gain

3 much.

f The first point which strikes us in Noah is his

extreme solitude, he stands alone in a fallen world ;
when the great wickedness is described, it is added, .
" But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord," the
one and only one ; and again, " The Lord said unto

KOAH. 25

Noah, thee have I seen righteous before Me in this
generation." It is for this that he stands out so
remarkable beyond all^the Saints in Scripture, that it
was amidst the utter corruption of that generation.
He stands alone, like one solitary pillar in the midst
of a ruin. But this is not all, for his character is
given yet more particularly, " Noah was a just man
and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with
God.*' This remarkable and beautiful expression that
he '^ walked mth God," had been used of Enoch
before Gt)d took him. Moreover the righteousness of
Noah and his consequent power with God is shown
by the mention of him in Ezekiel, " Though these
three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they
should deliver but their own souls by their righteous-
ness, saith the Lord God*." Now as Job was re-
markable for intercession, interceding first of all ** con-
tinually" for his sons; and then afterwards by the
express command of God for his three friends*; and
as Daniel is known as the signal intercessor with
Gt>d for his people ; so we may conclude &om Noah*s
being mentioned thus together with them that he was
especially known of God for his intercessions in be-
half of that wicked world in which he lived. And as
such prayers are certain in some way to be answered
of God, it is probable that to these, his prayers, his
own family were given him, to be the origin of a new
world, and in whom the covenant of God might
stand.

In addition to these there is also another circum-
stance which we know of Noah ; he is mentioned by
St. Peter as " a preacher of righteousness." This

1 Ezek. xiv. 14. ' Job i. 5, and xlii. 8.

26 IfOAH.

description taken with all the rest has great weight ;
for it indicates that he was not only, like Samuel and
Daniel, engaged in mourning and praying for others,
not a silent sufferer only as Abel ; but that like the
Prophets and Apostles he pleaded with them, preach-
ing righteousness. And this might have been during
the hundred and twenty years wherein God gave
warning of what He was about to do, as St. Peter
says, " When once the longsuffering of God waited
in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing *."
Or it might have been all his life before that time ;
until at last when his preaching had been long in
vain, that sign was given, when, as St. Paul speaks of it,
" being warned of God, moved with fear, he prepared
an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he
condemned the world ^." All these things serve to
indicate what the life and character of Noah was.

But it is on his Name, — the signification of it, and
the emphatic mention of it in Scripture, as given by
prophetic inspiration when he was bom, that £ would
most dwell. And his father Lamech, it is said,
"called his name Noah," i. e. " rest," or "comfort,"
"saying. This same shall comfort us concerning our
work and toil of our hands, because of the ground
which the Lord hath cursed." Scripture then, by
this account, draws our attention to the " rest " and
"comfort" which Noah imports amidst the troubles
of the world. The words seem to imply some great
alleviation from the evils of the fall. But yet if we
look to the mere surface of the history, it is, as
St. Ambrose observes, rather the contrary, for in his
time wickedness advanced to such an accumulation

» J Pet iii. 20. * Heb. xi. 7.

NOAH. 27

and height of misery as to hring down the destruction
of the world *. To this point I would more especially
turn, not only because the mention of it in Genesis
seems to draw attention to that circumstance, but
also because our Lord Himself has in so memorable
and marked a manner mentioned Noah and his days
as the sign of the days of the Son of Man ; and it has
always been observed in the Church that the history
of Noah is quite full of type and prophecy respecting
the Church of Christ in the latter days. Indeed
even among the tombs of the early martyrs unto
this day some of the most frequent emblems of
the Christian fsuth are taken from Noah, and the ark,
and the dove. And that the very name of rest and
comfort, in its fuller acceptation, signifies Christ, is
obvious unto all. "Woe to him who looks to any one
else for his comfort and rest.

Thus Noah seems to imply that there will be " a
man " in "Whom there will be rest and comfort in a
perishing world. "And a man shall be," as the
Prophet Isaiah says, " an hiding place from the wind,
and a covert from the tempest \" In the first ages
of the world there was a strong expectation that the
great Deliverer was already come or coming ; and in
answer to this expectation men were given to be signs
of Him. Four persons especially stand forth in the
old world as it were the pillars of it on account of this
faith ; as Abel is the sign of Christ's Death ; Seth of
His Eesurrection ; Enoch of His Ascension ; so Noah
sets forth the rest and comfort which is to be found in
Christ in the latter days when " iniquity shall abound."

* See St. Amb. De Noe et Arcd, lib. i. cap. I.

* Isa. xxxil 2.

28 iroAH.

He is the depository of the promise, as God says to
him, " "With thee will I establish My covenant^." Of
him Christ shall be bom; and St. Paul designates
him as the ''heir of the righteousness which is by
faith*/'

Thus Noah stood alone in the world as it were the
Second Adam, the New Man, the type of Him in
Whom alone the Father is well pleased ; of Him Who
is alone " perfect " before God and " righteous ;" of
Him Who hath found grace, walking with God, for
" God was with Him* ;" of Him Who hath promised
to be with His Church unto the end ; Who in His
ministers and the stewards of His mysteries is warning,
and preaching to, and interceding for a fallen world.
With Noah the covenant is again renewed ; and by an
express warrant from God all the creatures are made
subject to him. " And the dread of you," it is said,
" shall be upon every beast . . . into your hands they
are delivered "." Thus was he the type of the Second
Adam, of Whom it is said in the 8th Psalm, '' Thou
hast put all things in subjection under His feet ; all
sheep and oxen ; yea, and the beasts of the field."

As there were the second tables of stone, the first
being broken ; a second covenant with man after the
fall, when the first in Paradise had been forfeited ; a
second temple after the first was destroyed ; a second
people taken into covenant with God when the Jews
were rejected ; so now there is a second world which
has the promise, the first being lost, in token of " the
new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righte-
ousness;" wherein, as St. John says, ''there shall be

' Gen. vi. 18. » Heb. xi. 7.

» Acts X. 38. 10 Gen. ix. 2.

NOAH. 29

no more curse ^" " This same shall comfort us because
of the ground which the Lord hath cursed."

Of this great redemption Noah is the sign, and as it
were the second parent, as it is stated in the Evange-
lical Prophet, " For this is as the waters of Noah unto
Me ;" and then in explanation it is added, " for the
mountains shall depart,and the hills be remoyed,but My
kindness shall not depart from thee, nor the covenant
of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath
mercy on thee '." The same is again exhibited to us
in a very beautifxd and striking figure in the Prophet
Ezekiel, which is afterwards renewed in the revelation
of St. John, when Christ is represented as sitting on
the throne of His Kingdom. *' Upon the likeness of
the throne," says the Prophet of Chebar, was " as the
appearance of a man," and '* round about was as the
appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day
of rain *." St. John says, " and there was a rainbow
round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald*."
Thus "the faithful witness in Heaven" given to Noah
still continues unto the end, because it speaks of the
everlasting Gospel. " The bow shall be in the cloud,
and I will look upon it," said God, "that I may
remember the everlasting covenant *."

And hence more particularly in Noah, " the Spirit
that beareth witness," sets forth " the Water and the
Blood," or the two Sacraments : one in the flood and
the ark, as St. Peter says, " The like figure whereunto
baptism doth now save us by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ." And the other Sacrament afterwards in the

' Rev. xxii. 3. » Tsa. liv. 9, 10.

3 Ezek. i. 26. 28. * Rev. iv. 3.

* Gen. ix. 16.

30 TfOJLB,

blood at that time so expressly set apart, as so emphati-
cally repeated in the Law : " Be sure that thou eat not
the blood, for the blood is the life thereof •.'* " For it
is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul '."
Thus our Lord Himself said, " For My flesh is meat
indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth
My flesh, and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, and
I in him.'*

Thus strongly then is Christ represented to us in
Noah ; and these are great matters for our contem-
plation, when we consider His own awful words, in
calling our attention to Noah. For when 5!e Himself
says, " as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in
the days of the Son of Man," this resemblance in the
times should rivet our attention to the resemblance to
Himself also. Now a promise of rest and comfort,
indicated by the name of Noah, implies great and
signal need of comfort and rest, and therefore times of
tribulation and trial, not necessarily to all men, but
to the good ; and this is shown in our Lord's own
words, for the rest and comfort in Himself which
He promises is to them that are much weighed down
and oppressed : " Come unto Me, all ye that travail
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

The times to which our Lord likens these the latter
days are then the days of Noah, that is, the hundred
and twenty years of his preaching: these are the
days wherein He Himself warns men of coming
judgment, wherein, if we may so apply the words of
St. Peter, "the longsuffering of Q-od waits in the
days of the Son of Man, while the ark of Christ's
Church is a preparing, wherein few are saved ;" and

* See Deut. xii. 23—28. ' Lev. xvii. II.

NOAH. 31

the point of resemblance which our Lord takes is not

the violence or great crimes then in the world ; but

a general forgetfulness of approaching judgment while

mankind are taken-up " with the cares and pleasures of

this life." " They bought, they sold, they planted and

builded, they were marrying, and giving in marriage

until the day." They are precisely the same things

which our Lord described as the reasons why men

would not receive the Gospel, and which have been

fulfilled from the time in which He spake even unto

this day. For though He likens the Gospel to a

feast, and though Noah signifies " rest" and "comfort,"

and the ark a place of refuge, yet they all, He says,

with one consent began to make excuse ; and these

excuses, He states to be the very same reasons which

He mentions in the days of Noah : " I have bought

a piece of land, and must needs go and see it ; " or,

" I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come."

Moreover, while all this is going on, this indifference

and carelessness respecting the future, we have the

same God, the same Jesus Christ, in the Book of

Genesis as we have in the Gospels, mourning with

infinite tenderness and compassion over mankind. In

the former are the wonderful and affecting words,

" And it repented the Lord that He had made man on

the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart." This

exactly corresponds with what we read in the Gospels

of our Lord Himself, as in those His expressions:

"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Beth-

saida ! " and the like : and in that memorable account

that when He saw Jerusalem He wept over it, and said,

" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, bow often would I have

gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her

brood under hep wings," i. e. foreseeing their danger

82 IfOAH.

which they knew not of, " but ye would not ;" and in
the evangelical parable He calls His angels together
over one sinner that He has rescued, saying, " Eejoice
with Me, for I have found the sheep which I had lost.**

It is then in such days of great outward worldliness
and sensuality, while Q-od is " grieved," and His " Spirit
striving " in vain with man, warning him of that Judg-
ment which in the " evil imaginations of his heart "
he sets aside and will not consider, that the example of
Noah is given us. Now when our Lord tells us that
if we come to Him He will give us rest ; yet at the
same time He teaches us that this coming to Him
implies our taking upon us His yoke ; and though He
adds that that "yoke is easy," and that "burden
light,*' yet in other places He speaks of it as the very
Gross itself, which, though His martyrs and saints
have indeed found fiill of joy and comfort, yet to
flesh and blood it must be in itself burdensome and
grievous. The dove of Noah returned to him because
she could find no rest for the sole of her foot else-
where, and he put forth his hand and received her
into the ark with joy ; but she had returned to the
confinement of the ark instead of that liberty which
was abroad in the world ; and there is not a soul on
earth but has oftentimes occasion to say, " Oh that I
had wings like a dove ! for then would I fly away, and
be at rest. Lo, then would I get me away far off",
and remain in the wilderness I *' But of these very few
indeed are they whose prayers in the Holy Spirit take
the wings of the dove, — which though it hath lien among
the pots yet is covered with silver wings, — and depart
from the world to be with Christ.

And thus if Noah signifies comfort, and the great
Comforter now in the world, yet he was one that

NOAH. 33

had taken upon him the yoke of God, he was "a
righteous man," ** perfect in his generation," " walking
with God." In building the ark he was, sajs St. Paul,
"moved with fear," in faith receiving the awful
warning " of God of things not seen as yet." The
difference between him and the world around him was
that he realized, expected, looked to the judgment
wliich God was about to bring ; but the world was as
it is to this day, in the glass of Gtod*a Word, shutting its
eyes and ears against warnings of the future. " They
did eat, they drank, they married and gave in marriage,
till Noah entered into theark, and the flood came." The
maxim of the world always is, as it then was, "Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die." But the Christian's
precept is, " Let us fast and watch, for to-morrow we
die, and after death the judgment ;" or, in his Master's
words, " Take heed that your heart be not overcharged
with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of
this life, and so that day overtake you unawares."
" "Watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is."
To accept in faith and fear the doctrine of a sudden,
speedy, and eternal Judgment will fill any one with dis-
quietude, and make him feel his need of rest and
comfort ; and to such it is that this promise is given.
He will feel his need of far other consolations than
these which the world supplies from without; and
most men have had this impression, and felt this want
for a time, as, for instance, when the dead body of a
friend or near relative has been Ijring before them.
For in that case they know the Judgment hath in some
sense already overtaken, and that too speedily ; and
they see it must shortly be so with themselves, and
they are moved ; and while this impression lasts they
seek and find rest in Christ, and comfort in the great

3^ NOAH.

Comforter ; but when the storm has been stilled and
the waters of that affliction abate, they again, like
Noah's dove, leave the ark and, may be, return to it no
more.

And now to look more closely at the example of
Noah, and consider it in conjunction with the warnings
of Q-od ; it is evident that a deep and abiding, nay, an
overwhelming sense of coming Judgment, under which
the Christian is to live, is to affect the heart in the
world, and not out of the world ; or rather is to have
the effect of taking him out of the world while he is in
the world. And this is the difficulty, he is to walk
with God, i. e. with Christ risen, whilst in the world.
For Noah himself, while he " walked with God," yet
was engaged in those earthly occupations which it is
said in the case of the rest of mankind withdrew their
heart from the great hereafter. He married and gave
in marriage. He was " a husbandman, and planted ®."
Nay, as he was a " righteous man," this implies that
he had dealings with mankind, wherein righteousness
or integrity is shown : he bought and sold as other
men. It is then in these very same occupations, even
in the same field, in the same mill, and the same bed,
one shall be taken and the other left, when the sepa-
ration is made. It depends on the keeping or not
keeping of the heart in the same employments : as St.
Paul states the same : '' Brethren, the time is short :
it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as
though they had none ; . , . they that rejoice as though
they rejoiced not ; they that buy as though they
possessed not; ... for the fashion of this world passeth
away*." And thus when the Psalmist speaks of

• Gen. ix. 20. » 1 Cor. vii. 29-31.

yoAH. 85

those who " forget God '* being " cast into hell," he
adds, '' but the patient abiding of the meek shall not

It is not then in taking us out of these things, but
by taking the heart out of them that the change is
needed : and so far from such avocations being made
an excuse for neglecting the Gospel, and its great
injunction of watchfulness and prayer, they are the
most urgent reasons for them. Instead of its being said,
*'I have bought a yoke of oxen," or the Hke, "and
therefore I cannot come," when God calls, it should
be said, " I have bought or sold, and therefore I needs
must watch and pray more earnestly, for death is
found in such things to all who do not. I am engaged
in domestic concerns, and therefore I must watch and
pray the more continually, lest I be too much taken up
in them, and be found sleeping when the time comes."
We daily need bread for the body, because we have
earthly work to do ; shall we not equally need daily
bread for the soul, because we have also heavenly work
to do, and the night cometh when no man can work —
that work which if found undone, must be left undone
for ever ?

X> 2

SERMON IV.

ABEAHAM.

Genesis xxii. 11.

** And the angel of the Lord called nnto him out of heaven, and
said, Abraham, Abraham."

Thebe is nothing in H0I7 Scripture, unless it be in
the Gospels themselves, of such awful and moving
interest, as the life of Abraham ; and when he has
come to that crowning trial of all, and God calls to him
out of Heaven, repeating his name, naj, as if not
content with that, like one among men, who, on some
great crisis of joy and thankfulness, hastens to repeat
again his deep sense of what has been done, when, I
say, God calls to him a " second time out of Heaven,"
saying, "By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for be-
cause thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son: that in blessingi will bless thee."
So thrilling and overwhelming is this awful moment of
interest, that there is nothing equal to it in the history
of man. He has obtained the victory of all victories,
and the highest praise of God ; he has, in the course
of a few hours, done an act of which the consequences

ABBAHAlkf. 37

are felt unto the end of time. It is as if the Heavens
themselves had been in deep and awful suspense
watching what he would do, whether he would be equal
to that great trial of all trials that Ood had put upon
him ; and when he " stretched forth his hand to slay
his son," then all the creations of God and the Angels
of Heaven rejoiced with a great and mighty rejoicing.
The Angel of the Covenant, nay Q-od Himself, called
aloud &om Heaven, repeating his name, and again a
second time declared and confirmed the blessing. "No
occasion has been like this ; and probably none will be
till that awful moment itself which resembles it, when
it shall be said by Christ Himself to him that has
overcome, the true son in the faith of the faithful
Abraham, " Well done, thou good and faithful servant,
. . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

This transcendent consummation of all trials had
this in it above all, that it was made to have a resem-
blance to the act of the Almighty Father Himself, in
giving up His Only Beloved Son to die for mankind,
to be an imitation of the perfection of Divine love itself.
Here is a father for God's love willing to be fatherless;
and in that willingness made the father of nations, and
of all that are in Christ. O wonderful old man ! O
wonder of all wonders! O joy of all joys! Well
indeed may that child be to thee the name of joy and
wonder ; God hath indeed " made thee to IcmgJi^^ and
his mother, and "all that hear shall laugh*" with
thee, " at the strangeness of that salvation." O faith
without parallel, grounded in love! O love strong
as death, high as Heaven, image of the love of God
for man. The death-pang of trial is over, and

* Gen. XXI. 6.

88 ABBAHAM.

the crown is won. And, oh ! who but God can know
what those three days of travail were to Abraham ?
and what it was when " on the third day he lifted up
his eyes, and saw the place afar off," what the struggle
between faith and affection, between nature and grace,
the yearnings of all that was human and the con-
straining power of all that was Divine ? the tender child
on the one hand, and on the other the knife, the cords,
and the wood ; the child of his love, the son of his old
age, the heir of the promise, the child on whom were
centred the hopes of all that Q-od had given, and was
about to give ; " thy son, thine only son, whom thou
lovest," as God Himself said ; the child by his side,
with the affecting, simple inquiry, " Father, where is
the lamb ?" But blessed be God Who called him by
His grace, and gave him to hear His call, and to per-
severe unto the end ! His " light affliction " was but
" for a moment," and hath wrought for him *' an eter-
nal weight of glory."

And now as He Who put upon him this great
burden knew that he would attend to His voice, and
gave him power to do it, let us consider how from
step to step through his life God had called him on by
little and little, and he had answered every call, till it
was given him to hear and to answer this great
summons, the perfection and crown of all. As
he " rose up early in the morning," and had three
days of painful trial before him, till he came to
the Moimt of God, in like manner had his whole
life from the £rst been a preparation for this great
act. Even from childhood we may suppose that God
had been dealing with him, and as the looks of a loving
child answer the light of a father's countenance, so
grace answered to grace ; and among the Chaldees, his

ABBAHAM. 89

family and kindred, he habituated his heart to listen
to, and hear and understand that still small voice that
pleadeth with every man, till the call came and the
trial. Then he arose at God's bidding, leaving Ur of
the Chaldees, the seat of his childhood and youth, and
dwelt at Haran. Then came from God a second call
to leave his country, and his kindred, and his father's
house, and leaving Haran, he " went forth to go into
the land of Canaan ; and into the land of Canaan he
came ^." Most, if not all persons, have had these first
and early calls by God's Spirit, but in most cases these
calls have not been answered by the heart, and there-
fore what the advance onward would have been has
not been known. "We have been all called from the
first to leave the country wherein we were born, to
seek " a better country, that is an heavenly," though
we be in it for a time but strangers, with the enemy in
the land. Nay, we know not beforehand not only not
the sufferings we have to undergo, but above all we
know not the treasures and delights of that kingdom
of grace, as they become afterwards known to the true
believer. Por obedience comes first, and knowledge
afterwards ; God calls, and faith obeys the call, know-
ing that when God commands He gives grace to fulfil.
'Now from this beginning in Abraham what was not
to be expected? He had already cast the world
behind him from an unconquerable trust in God ; poor
in all things as yet, but rich in faith, " he went out,
knowing not whither he went ;" and when he came to
the place where he was promised a possession, he had
" not so much as to set his foot on." And again, it
was to be " an inheritance to his seed," but " he had

* Gen. xii. 1. 5.

40 ABBAHAM.

no child '." To all but the eye of faith there was nothing
but disappointment, and he was deceived of his high
expectations ; but he strengthened himself hj behold-
ing Him that is invisible ; it was this disappointment
and frustration of his hopes, this very weakness, that
made him strong; and when he found it thus, " he looked
for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and
Maker is God *.'* The enlargement of his heart, the
raising of his spirit, the strengthening of his soul, was
from this, which would have otherwise been straitening,
depressing, weakening ; and he confessed himself " a
stranger and a pilgrim upon earth *." He put his soul
as it were into his hand, and left the issue with Gk)d.
As he could not look to the objects of sight to rest on,
he looked upwards to the things of faith, nay, rather he
looked upward to God alone. God became to him his
all, his treasure, his home, his country, his inheritance
for ever ; this was the secret of his endurance, and God
Himself, answering his heart's desire, said to him, " I
am thy exceeding great reward *." He loved God, and
therefore he loved what God loved ; he hated father,
and mother, and child, yea, and his own life also ; not
that he loved them the less by dwelling in the very
Fountain of Love Itself, but that his love for himself
and his own was but as bate compared with his love of
God. Or rather shall we say with Scripture, his fear
of God, his fear of losing Him, of losing His love, of
displeasing Him, as the voice from Heaven said to
him, "Abraham, Abraham, now I know that thou
fearest God^"

Now not to dwell on all the particulars of the life

» Acts vii. 6. ♦ Heb. xi. 10.

* Gen. xxiii. 4 ; Heb. xi. 13. ' Gen. xv. 1.

7 Gen. xxii. 12.

of Abraham, we know that he is pre-eminent above all
men for faith, and faith is to the Christian all in all ;
faith marked and crowned the life of Abraham as its
great characteristic; this faith is always referred to
when Abraham is spoken of, whereby he is made " the
father of the faithful," the chosen father of Christ in
the flesh, the type of the accepted ones, the first in the
kingdom of Heaven. This faith is described in the
Epistle to the Hebrews as seen in all the great acts of
his life, all leading on to the great consummation in
the offering up of his son. But now we may observe
how this faith in God, like that charity which St. Paul
describes, was "fruitful in every good word and work,"
was seen in every virtue and grace that can adorn the
Christian character.

First of all, with regard to his devotion, we must
have noticed how it occurs, incidentally as it were, in
his history, that his removal from one place to another
is scarcely ever mentioned without this circumstance,
so frequent as to be quite peculiar to him, so emphatic
and brief the mention as to indicate some acceptable
apd distinguishing act of faith. Thus, " And Abram
passed unto the place of Sichem, . . . and there builded
he an altar unto the Lord, Who appeared unto him."
And the next verse, " And he removed thence unto a
mountain on the east of Bethel, . . . and there he
builded an altar, and called upon the name of the
Lord'." And again the next chapter, "And he went
on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, . . .
unto the place of the altar which he had made there
at the first, and there Abram called on the name of
the Lord." And a little afterwards, " Then Abram

• Gen. xii. 6—8.

42 ABBAHAM.

removed bis tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of
Mamre, . . . and built tbere an altar unto tbe Lord*."
This is in tbe earlier mention of him.

In tbe next place he was tried by prosperity and
not found wanting. His heart was with God. He
was "very richV' and amidst his riches, says St.
Augustine, was poor in spirit. In possessing he was
as though he " possessed not.'* So much so that in
our Lord's parable it was into Abraham's bosom that
poor Lazarus was received; it was Abraham who
pleaded for him with the rich Jew, saying, " Thou in
thy lifetime received thy good things, and Lazarus
evil." Of this his freedom from covetousness several
instances may be mentioned. Thus, when on account
of their increasing substance it was necessary for him-
self and his brother's son to separate, ''Abram said
unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between
me and thee, for we are brethren :" and then when
he might fairly have claimed to himself the choice of
the better land, he offers all this to his nephew, and
Lot chose for himself the rich plain of Jordan, flourish-
ing "as the garden of the Lord." The same liberality
and greatness of soul is seen again when the king
of Sodom, on his rescuing his people from captivity,
says to him, " Give me the persons, take the goods
to thyself," but Abraham's answer is, "I will not
take from thee a thread even to a shoelatchet." On
the same occasion the like integrity towards God
appears when to Melchizedeck, the Priest of the
Most High God who met him at the same time and
blessed him, he gave tithes of all. A similar disin-
terestedness is afterwards shown in his dealings with

> Gen. xiii. 3, 4. 18. > Gen. xiii. 2.

ABBAHAM. 43

the Hittites for the cave of Maehpelah. To which
we may add, that his example for hospitality is referred
to by the Apostle : " Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers, whereby some have entertained angels un-
awares.*'

And no less remarkable was his courage as seen
in that signal instance when he arose and rescued Lot
from Chedorlaomer and the kings; when he fought
not for himself, but for another; not for possession
or glory, but from brotherly affection. There is also
throughout his whole life a singular meekness, as may
be observed in all his conduct, to Lot, to Sarah his
wife, to all others; to Melchizedeck, to Abimelech,
to Ephron the Hittite ; he bowed down himself before
them and said, " I am a stranger and sojourner with
you ^." There is a remarkable patience and humility
in all his words and deportment. And again, what
compassionate love is seen as filling all his character
in all that long intercession for the sparing of Sodom !
To these things must be added one point which God
Himself is pleased to single out in Abraham as the
great cause of His favour, and that is the religious
care of his household : " I know him, that he will com-
mand his children and his household after him, and
they shall keep the way of the Lord*.'* And we may
observe a remarkable instance of this in " the eldest
servant of his house,'* whom he sends for his son's
wife; a great piety and devotion marks his whole
conduct so as to be very like Abraham himself*.

* Gen. xxiii. 4. 7. * Gen. xviii. 19.

* Ancient writers on Abraham's going down to Egypt with
his wife, and their saying indeed the truth, though not all the
truth, speak of that occasion as a beautiful instance of his faith
in God^ and that God by His protection of him and the pleading

44 ABBAHAII.

But it is indeed when he turns to God more
especially that all the wonderful depth and sweetness
of Abraham's character is seen; it comes forth as it
were upon his countenance, and lights it up as when
friend meets a friend; as on that occasion of inter-
ceding for Sodom, what love, what reverential awe and
humility ! " And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt
Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?"
And then, " Abraham answered and said, Behold now,
I have taken upon myself to speak unto the Lord,
which am but dust and ashes.** And again, " And he
said unto Him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I
will speak." And then even once more with the
same affecting words. How is all this which so
marks the character of Abraham contained in the
proverbial expression that " he was called the Eriend
of God * ! " How does this beautiful confiding trust
break forth in that gentle inquiry when all earthly
promises seemed against him : " Lord God, what wilt
Thou give me!'* There is the same lowliness of
mind and love, when on a later occasion he fell on his
face and laughed in surprise and wonder. Hence
there appears through his words and actions such a
remarkable indifference, as if his heart were elsewhere.
But he had we know a hidden joy, of which our Lord
has Himself testified, " Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see My day, and he saw it afar off and was ^lad"
Hence I say this great unconcern in matters of self,
and his great earnestness in things of God. Zeal

of his cause showed that his trust in Him was not disappointed.
St. Aug. iii. 613 ; vii. 689 ; viii.596. St. Amh. De Ahr. lib. i. c. 11.
8. 9. ** Pulcherrimus est hie locos ad incitandum studium devu-
tionis," &c.

^ James ii. 23 ; Isa. xli. 8 ; 2 Chron. xx. 7*

ABBAHAK. 45

and alacrity mark where the heart is. On three occa-
sions this may be noted in Abraham, in his haste to
receiye his three guests with welcome ; in his hasten-
ing to rescue Lot ; and when he " arose up early in
the morning" to sacrifice his son in obedience to
God.

Thus did Abraham advance onward, and gained
strength as he advanced : as he waited on God, and
waited for God, so did God watch over him: as at
every stage he built an altar and called on God, so
also again and again did God appear unto him, bring-
ing sunshine on his path on every occasion of difficulty
or trial; first at Ur of the Chaldees'; then with
great promise of blessing at Haran; then when he
came into the land of Canaan and found the Canaanite
there, did God appear unto Abraham with the pro-
mise of that land to his seed. And when Lot parted
from him and he was left alone, then still more em-
phatically with the assurance, " Lift up thine eyes and
look Northward, and Southward, and Eastward, and
Westward," " all thou seest " on every side is thine
for ever. And then after his victory, living as he
must have done amidst angry kings and foes, God
again appears to him, saying, '* Pear not, Abram, I am
thy shield ^" Yet his faith is marked with an ab-
sence of definite knowledge throughout, but a full
reliance on God ; when he left his country, he knew
not whither he was to go ; when the promises were
made, he knew not how they could be fulfilled. As
his faith increased, so did the promises, but they were
of things still farther ofi*, and on God he reposed:

• Acts vii. 2. 7 Gen. xii. 6, 7; xiii. 14; xv. 1.

46 ABBA^AM.

first, his seed was to fill the land of Canaan; then
came the promise that the nations of the earth are in
him to be blessed ; his seed after the flesh are to be
as the sand on the shore ; and to fill the earth ; and
then again they are to be as the stars and to people
Heaven also. But when he wished for a sign and' for
clearer knowledge, "a horror of great darkness fell
upon him,'* as setting forth the great tribulation, and
a light that divided; it was, says St. Augustine,
the sign and the sight of Antichrist ; it was a sad
vision ; enough to raise his mind to Heaven, that he
might not seek rest on earth, and might see that in
mercy God veils the future from our eyes '.

Thus then is given us the wonderful pattern of a
soul that would live to God, in Gh)d, and for Q-od —
the life of faith. God calling and commanding, and
giving him power to perform what He commanded,
and blessing and crowning His own work in him.
Qt)d proceeding with promise, and Abraham with
faith: till Abraham was no more himself, no more
his own; but faith in God filled all his soul, all
that he did, all that is recorded of him.

It was this faith that lighted up his character
with every virtue and grace; it was like one light
brightening up jewels of many colours; faith was
in his generosity; faibh in his courage; faith in
his humility ; faith in his devotion ; faith in the care
of his household ; it was all one and the same faith
burning more and more intensely, till it had purged
the dross and alloy of human affection; and God
had become to him his only rest. God looked upon

• Gen. XV. See St. Aug. Civ. Dei, vol. vii. p. 696.

ABBAHAM, 47

him, and a ray from the light of His countenance
warmed and lit up his heart ; and that illumination
was faith. His "eye was single," and therefore
his " whole body was fiill of light,'* his whole cha-
racter full of God.

SERMON V.

LOT.

Genesis xiii. 1].

^* Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan ; and Lot journeyed
East : and they separated Uiemselyes the one from the other/'

OuE Lord has said, " Eemember Lot's wife ; " if He
had not, men might have thought there is nothing we
know of Lot's wife which has any thing to do with
Christianity, nor indeed with religion at all ; what we
are told of her is a mere matter of fact like any other
incident in history, that on looking back in escaping
from Sodom, " she became a pillar of salt." But now
our Lord has marked it as an especial warning to us
in these last days, as speaking of the dangers of a
half-repentance, of one that has been once saved by
God's mercy, and assisted by His grace, casting back
the eyes to that state from which he has been once
delivered. It is an incident which says of itself, in
other words, that " no man having put his hand to
the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
God *." If then it be the case with that one circum-

^ Luke ix. 62.

LOT. 49

stance, we may be sure that the whole of that awful
history is full of instruction for us, and contains
admonitions from God. Nay further, our Lord has
Himself given us to understand that the destruction
of Sodom is a figure of the last Judgment, which will
come at a time when lawlessness shall abound, and
faith be scarce found. Lot therefore is, as St. Augus-
tine says, a sign of the Body of Christ at that time *,
of the Christians who shall be grieved at the wicked-
ness of the world around, and by God's mercy es-
cape the great condemnation. Full of interest then
to us is the character of Lot, who is saved; and
it is one that affords much matter for reflection
from its imperfectness, and God's mercy notwith-
standing.

St. Peter speaks of Lot as a righteous man. '* And
delivered just Lot," he says, " vexed with the filthy
conversation of the wicked : for that righteous man
dwelling among them . . . vexed his righteous soul'."
Here he is spoken of as a righteous man in comparison
with that wicked people among whom he dwelt*,
and as knowing the true God. St. Paul also perhaps
alludes to his hospitality *, as well as that of Abraham ;
and it is something to have been the friend of Abraham,
who was "the friend of God." But on the other
hand, St. Paul makes no mention of Lot in the
catalogue of those whom he records as by faith
inheriting the promises. And in this history nothing
is said of Lot being in himself accepted except for
Abraham's sake; "God remembered Abraham," it
is said, " and sent Lot out of the midst of the over-

2 St Aug. viil 698. » 2 Pet. iL 7, 8.

« St. Aug. ill 619. ^ Heb. xiii. 2.

E

50 LOT.

throw, when He overthrew the cities in the which
Lot dwelt ®." " Scripture reminds us," says St. Augus-
tine, "that it was for the merits of Abraham that
Lot was delivered '." The history of his deliverance
shows God's extreme care for Lot ; the Angel waits
long and presses him, and great as is the guilt, loud
the cry of Sodom, he says, he can do nothing, till
Lot is in a place of safety: but it is mentioned
as of God's especial mercy to him. No approbation
is expressed of him. It is for Abraham's sake who
was probably at the time interceding for him with
God.

It would appear as if Scripture had purposely
interwoven the histories of Abraham and Lot, in order
to show us by placing them together the difference
between a perfect and imperfect faith. The beginning
of Lot's history is one with that of Abraham ; they
both leave their country and home, both go to a
fltrange land. We read, "Abraham went and Lot
with him;" this is repeated; under the shadow of
Abraham we behold him, one with Abraham, learning
of him self-sacrifice, hospitality, trust in God. But
as the companion and nephew of Abraham, as living
under his guidance and protection, there is as yet in
Lot no proof of an independent faith. Many are
brought up under the shelter of a parent's roof in
godly habits, while all the while their own faith is not
as yet put to the proof. It may be as good as his
under whose shade they dwell, time and temptation
will show; they may be merely as shoots from a
parent stem, having no root in themselves but from
connexion with the deeper and stronger stock, and

• Gen. xix. 29. ' Quaes, in Gen. xlv. vol. iii. 619.

LOT. 61

when seyered from it, then will come the trial of
inherent life.

The first indication of this difference between the
two is seen when, on account of their increasing herds,
they are obliged to part asunder ; then there appears
in Lot a worldly eye, a sense of his own advantage.
" And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain
of Jordan, that it was well watered every where,
before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha.'*
" Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan," " and
pitched his camp toward Sodom. But the men of
Sodom,*' it is added, " were wicked and sinners before
the Lord exceedingly.*' Thus they are now parted
asunder in the earthly Canaan, but still more in their
road toward the heavenly. Lot is governed by sight,
Abraham by faith. There is nothing perhaps more
frequently decides the eternal condition of the soul
than the use of worldly goods. All the dealings of
God with Abraham had been to separate him from
the wicked nations ; but Lot chooses to live among
the worst of them, and contracts marriages with them,
because their land was " as the garden of the Lord."
He thinks more oR the rich land than of the wicked
people. He lifted up his eyes, and he saw the rich
beauty of the land, and pitched his tent toward Sodom;
now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked. The
passage is remarkable, as implying so much, and saying
so little.

Erom this point came the change and the trial.
While Abraham continued with his eyes turned more
and more to God ; more free from worldly cares and
temptations ; more at rest and peace with God ; with
light burning more and more bright to the perfect
day; God's presence a "shield" against every
B 2

52 LOT.

temptation; His love a "reward exceeding great,"
beyond all things on earth ; while he is seen with all
his family and household walking with God, with step
more and more firm as he advances onward, and is lost
from our view in the light of God*s countenance and
the heavenly Jerusalem ; in the mean while the best
thing which an Apostle can say of Lot is of his being
vexed from day to day on account of those scenes into
the midst of which he had placed himself by a too keen
estimate of worldly good. And what was his family ?
and what his care of them ? His sons-in-law were of
Sodom ; his wife a memorial to all ages of a doubting
faith; from his daughters were sprung the great
enemies of God's people. Abraham waited in faith
and looked to God, and God gave in His own good
time ; Lot waited not, but chose for himself, and lost
what he thus obtained. Lot was next seen with the
king of Sodom, joined with him in the evils that came
upon him ; Abraham with the king of Salem, which is
Peace, and receiving the blessing of Melchizedeck, the
Priest of the Most High God.

On every change of life, on every proof of duty and
self-sacrifice, God appears to Abraham with some
manifestation of favour, and he goes on his way
rejoicing. But far otherwise with Lot ; God has been
pleased to mark his course with disappointment in
those very things which he for himself had chosen.
This indeed is always a sign of Qt)d's mercy ; it is in
tribulation that God speaks, and in tribulation man
listens to His voice. But were it not for Abraham he
would have lost all, and ended his days as a captive,
for it so pleased the Almighty that all his deliverances
should be through the means of Abraham, who trusted
in God. "We just now read that " Lot lifted up his

LOT. 63

ejes, and saw as it were the garden of the Lord, and
chose him all the plain," " and dwelled in the cities of
the plain toward Sodom ;" but the next thing we hear
of him is that Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam, had
overcome and slain the kings of Sodom and Gomorrha ;
" and thej took Lot," it is added, " Abram's brother's
son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed."
Thus was he admonished and warned of G-od. But G-od
has for him, and in him for us all, a yet more awful
warning, to stand as a record to all ages, for a sign of
what is yet to be.

It had been said at first that Lot " pitched his tent
toward Sodom ; " but it would appear as if he afterwards
ceased to dwell in tents, as Abraham and his children
did, indicating thereby, says St. Paul, that they
were strangers and pilgiims upon earth, looking for a
more abiding city. But many must have this lesson
written on them as it were by fire. Lot lifted up his
eyes and saw the well-watered plain — as it were the
garden of the Lord — and beautiful must it have been
indeed to look on. What fulness of beauty and abund-
ance with its pure waters, and skies, and morning and
evening suns ! But wait awhile, and look again ; Lot
cannot look to it, he may not look to it, he cannot
escape sufficiently far from it ; we may look to it in
the gracious light of Christ's goodness, and behold in
it the Judgment day, and the soul salted with fire.
What a change on that scene ! the smoke rising up as
from a furnace, the brimstone, the ashes, and the salt,
which is no salt, but bitterness ; the dead sea, and the
dead land are there ; nay, the land of the dead unto
this day.

But while these marks of God have taken place on
the objects of Lot's choice, let us consider what is

64 I.OT.

more important, what changes are going on within
the soul; what indications there are of the inner
life. I observed that Lot's character was of interest
to us from its yery imperfection ; and for this reason,
that when we read of the highly-approved Saints of
God, much of the interest is lost from our considering
them so much beyond us; and when we come to
those whom Scripture strongly condemns, as Pharaoh,
and Saul, and Ahab, we think we are not such as
they, so that their example does not so much rivet
our attention; but that of Lot is very near us as
resembling that of so many among Christians ; such
as we should many of us be content to be, for we
think that he has with him signs of salvation and of
God's mercy.

Now in considering Lot our thoughts are mostly
turned to those events to which our Lord has so
signally invited our attention, the overthrow of Sodom.
Tet surely the account of Lot himself is rendered on
that occasion full of fear by his very imperfection
and the consequent difficulty of his deliverance. Sea-
sons of prosperity and temptation, with intervals
perhaps more or less of ease, together with worldly
carefulness and pleasures, may be passing over us
through life and producing changes on our minds
which we do not notice at the time ; but they await
the occasion of some great trial, which will probably
overtake us before we die or at the time of death
itself, perhaps in sickness or some great bereavement
or tribulation, and then these changes which have
been long silently going on will appear. Then it is
that their effects on the soul will tell ; and the way
in which all the sins and infirmities of a whole life
may then be shown will be in the want of faith ;

LOT. 55

that is all in short which unites tho soul to God
being impaired and weakened; the very heart as it
were of the heart itself, our religious being, the only
strength of our spiritual life, being eaten out and
corrupted. This trial came on Lot unexpected and
irretrievable ; sudden, short, speedy ; it was come and
gone ere he had time to reflect ; and in this respect
it has been left by our Lord as the sign and resem-
blance of that great season of change which we have
all to undergo. Such indeed have been usually the
great trials of faith, as in Esau's lost inheritance, in
the trial of Moses, in Saul's disobedience, in David's
sin, in Lot's wife, in St. Peter walking on the waters
and his denials in the hall of Caiaphas, and again in
the Eich Young Man, and in Judas Iscariot, they
overtook when unexpected, weighed the soul in the
balance, and were gone. And indeed the imperfec-
tions of Lot on that terrible night have been con-
sidered by St. Augustine to have been owing to
great perturbation of mind arising from the sudden-
ness of the trials that then crowded together upon
him, from the wickedness of man and the judgments of
God. The state of his mind appears to have been
twofold, as formed by opposite influences ; there was
in him Abraham's faith which had become like part of
his better self, as seen in his knowledge of God, his
kindness and reverence for his Angel-guests, his
strong and hospitable welcome to them ; but vrith this
there appears also the effect on his soul of long resi-
dence amongst the ungodly ; so that compared with
them of Sodom he was a righteous man, the "just
Lot ;" but compared with Abraham he was not what
he might have been. He was grieved at the wicked-
ness of the city, for they were passed warning and

56 LOT.

beyond hope, given over of God to a reprobate mind ;
but he went out to his own sons-in-law at the Angels'
bidding with the offer of preservation and life ; as if
in them there was yet hope, and the voice of God
speaking to them and within them: but even here
too his influence with them was none at all. " He
seemed," it is said, " as one that mocked to his sons-
in-law." He grieved over some ; and warned others ;
and so far he was a witness of God. But it next
appears that there was a lingering reluctance in his
own heart ; for it is added, " Then the Angels hastened
Lot, saying, Arise, . . . lest thou be consumed in the
iniquity of the city." But notwithstanding he " yet
lingered," and God of His great mercy met him, as it
were, and aided him in that his weakness.

" And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his
hand, . . . the Lord being merciful unto him; and they
brought him forth, and set him without the city."
But though without the city, he is not yet safe, nor
will be, unless God is yet further gracious to him, for
there is still the like weakness, a feebleness of heart
that makes his knees totter and his strength fail.
" And it came to pass, when they had brought them
forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life ; look
not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain ;
escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And
Lot said unto them. Oh, not so, my Lord : behold
now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and
thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast
showed thy servant in saving my life ; and I cannot
escape to the mountain."

Now true faith is marked by a strong sense, not of
the goodness only, but still more of the power of God.
What is the meaning of a weak faith, a weak Chris-

XOT. 67

tian ? It is one that is weak in Ood. It was a belief
in His power that our Lord most of all required, and
most approved of in the Gospels. " I can do all things,"
says St. Paul, "through Christ strengthening me."
Lot looks to the mercy, not to the power. And how
different is his conduct from that of Abraham ! Abra-
ham when bidden, arose early and went to the moun-
tain to slay his son, strengthening himself in beholding
Him that is Invisible. Lot is bidden to flee to the
mountain, that he may save his life ; but he lingers
and has not power to do so, not faith that He who
commands would give power to perform. It is said to
him, " Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed,"
but he says in answer, that he cannot escape to the
mountain, lest he die. Nor is this all, for he then soon
after " feared to dwell even in the little city which
God had spared for him, and promised him security
therein®;" showing thereby, as St. Augustine ob-
serves, what little strength his faith had, so that even
from thence he went up to the mountain and the cave.

Thus then did Lot "escape for his life," with his
life only — his " life given him for a prey," all else lost —
saved as by fire — as a brand plucked from the burning
— scarce saved, as the Apostle says, apparently with
an allusion to him, "if the righteous scarcely be
paved."

Many indeed would be well content to be as Lot,
and if but saved at last, think that all will be well.
But consider, to be but scarcely saved, is to be well-nigh
lost, and what if not saved, but lost ! Lot had Abra-
ham to look to, and fell short ; but he that looks to

' St. Aug. QusDS. in Gen. xlvii.

68 LOT.

Lot, and fallB short even of that, as he surely will do,
can have not even a Zoar allowed him to escape to.
Lot lingers and hesitates, and with difficulty advances.
The next thing to this is to look back, and then,
" Eemember Lot's wife.*' No doubt the example of
Lot is given us by the side of Abraham for our warning
and avoidance ; the uncertainty, the temptation, the
dangers, the suspense, the terrors of that night may
well indicate the state of a soul such as that of Lot
in the great crisis we may all have to undergo.

These are both instances of faith — Abraham and
Lot. But look at this and look at that ; see the
peace of the one— the disquietude of the other ; godli-
ness hath the promise of the life which now is, and of
that which is to come ; to him that seeketh first the
kingdom of God all things needful for this life shall
be added; nay, more, to self-sacrifice is promised
manifold more in this present time, as well as ever-
lasting life hereafter ; it hath "peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost ;" but this is all to one thoroughly reli-
gious, to the life of faith ; to the half-religious it is not
BO, but doubt often, and care, and inquietude. Joys of
sense are not compatible with joys of the spirit ; glad-
ness is spoken of with singleness of heart ; but these
are not found with "fulness of bread," which gave
rise to the sin of Sodom.

Now where shall all who are met here on this day
find themselves described in the awful picture of this
history ? Tou are not as they of Sodom ; nor are you
probably as Lot's sons-in-law, who mocked at his
entreaties; neither are you such as Abraham; then
you must be either as Lot or as Lot's wife ; in a state
of uncertainty for good or evil, and one in which faith

lOT. 69

may be strengthened or weakened ; and if in either of
these states now and at the last, then your end will be
one of these two ; in one case, that you are very nearly
lost, but not quite— in the other, that you are very
nearly saved, hut not quite !

SERMON YI.

JACOB AND ESAU.

Malachi i. 2, 3.

'< Was not Esau Jacob's brother ! saith the Lord : yet 1 loved

Jacob,
«* And I hated Esau."

It is said that " the Heavens are not clean in God's
sight;" and that "His Angels He chargeth with
folly," much more "them that dwell in houses of
clay*." Among the Saints in the mirror of Grod's
Word there is not one that appears as it were " with-
out spot or wrinkle." In some cases Scripture itself
bears witness to this, as in the sin of Moses, of David,
of Hezekiah, the denial of St. Peter, and the error of
St. John in wishing to bring down fire from Heaven,
and with his mother in asking for the chief place.
But where the Word of God has expressed no censure
it is better not to judge ; as in the apparent act of
intemperance in Noah, the conduct of Abraham to-
wards Pharaoh, and that of Jacob in obtaining his

» Job XV. 15; iv. 18, 19.

JACOB AND ESATT. 61

father's blessing. A good Bishop of our own has
strongly condemned this last, and noticed the retri-
bution that followed on Jacob and his mother : that
he became an exile in consequence, and she never saw
him again; that he was himself soon after deceived
in a very remarkable manner by Laban ; that he was
imposed upon by his own sons in his old age, and that
as he had deceived his aged father with a kid, so his
son Joseph's coat was brought to him dyed with the
blood of a kid*.

Such are the reflections of one much revered among
us; but the ancient Fathers are very unwilling to
attribute sin to Jacob in this matter, knowing how
high he stands in the favour of Grod. "We know not
how much may be left unexplained to us in that
transaction ; for it is evidently the setting forth of a
great mystery, the sacrament of our redemption ; we
know not what interposition of God may have taken
place with respect to Eebekah, or how far she and
her son may have been acting under the influence and
hand of God. She had been told of God beforehand
that "the elder should serve the younger':" she
knew that Jacob valued in faith the covenant that
God had made with Abraham respecting Christ, and
that Esau despised it, and had sold his birthright:
she takes it all upon herself, saying, " Upon me be thy
curse, my son :" as knowing that it was no curse but
a blessing. Neither does Isaac express any blame on
Eebekah or on Jacob ; but on the contrary immedi-
ately confirms and repeats the blessing. It is said
that on finding what he had done he " trembled very
exceedingly," this is explained by the Church of old

» Bp. Wilson. » Gen. xxv. 23.

62 JACOB AKD ISAr.

as signifying that by a sudden inspiration from
above he perceived the Divine interposition and the
hand of God ; and then he does willingly what he had
before done in ignorance. And not only does he
then at the time acquiesce in and establish the bless-
ing he had given, but afterwards he carries out the
same, when he sends him to the East; when the
account is, "And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed
him," " and said, Gk)d Almighty bless thee, . . . and
give thee the blessing of Abraham."

It is indeed in these two brothers God now shows
that the covenant of grace and salvation which He
had made with Abraham is only to stand by faith ;
and this transaction is the representation of that
great mystery. Hence in Jacob we have the Gentile,
the younger son, coming and obtaining the blessing of
the elder ; the Old Testament, the Law and the Pro-
phets represented by Isaac, appeared as if they would
confer the blessing on the Jew, for they seemed to
address the Jews, to give them the promises. But
their father's " eyes were dim " by reason of age, " so
that he could not see," i.e. the Law and the Pro-
phets were not understood, they were veiled by a
cloud. But Eebekah, she that had been called and
come from afar, i.e. the Church of God from the
beginning, substitutes the younger son, in the rai-
ment of the elder ; he stands in the place of the
elder, having received the birthright ; but covered with
the skins of the slain kid, i. e. having put on Christ,
the savour of life, " as the smell of the field which
thjB Lord hath blessed," fruitful in all good works.
9|i the voice is still the voice of Jacob, it is
thw of the Gentile who by subtlety as it were
presses into the kingdom, it is still our nature,

JACOB AITD ESATJ. 68

which inherits not by right, but through the merits of
our elder brother, the First-born, which is Christ.
Then he draws near and receives from his father the
sacramental kiss of peace, which Esau did not ^. But
as the Jew persecuted the Grentile unto the death, so
Esau, it is said, would have slain Jacob ; but Jacob
fled, having " suffered the loss of all things," but having
his father's blessing; like the early Christians, "as
deceivers and yet true," " having nothing and yet
possessing all things," " persecuted but not for-
saken."

It is true that all this does not of itself justify
Jacob in that transaction because it was thus over-
ruled of God ; but this, and some other things of the
same kind in the character of this patriarch, we may
be content to leave with God, not venturing to judge
where God has not judged for us. And in the mean
while may be mentioned some reflections which should
dispose us to think favourably of Jacob, as far as we
are allowed to do so. Isaac says by inspiration,
" Blessed be he that blesseth thee," we would share
in this blessing. We woidd wish to love what God
loves and to hate what God hates ; and surely this is
a strong expression in the text, which is repeated by
St. Paul, " Jacob have I loved." And to come to parti-
culars, he seems to have the praise of God in this
very point in which we are inclined to condemn him,
for what men attribute to Jacob is deceitfulness ; but
before mentioning that mysterious transaction Scrip-
ture states, as it were intentionally, says St. Augus-
tine *, that " Jacob was a plain man," i. e. one void
of guile and deceit, in contrast to the craft of the

* St. Chrysostora. * Sermon iv. 16, 16.

64i JACOB AlH) XSATJ.

" cunning hunter." Which character of Jacob is, as
the same writer observes, confirmed by our Lord
Himself, for when He sajs of Nathanael, " Behold an
Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile ! " He evi-
dently implies that Israel of old was thus free from
guile ; even as those who had great faith He spake of
as being, true children of Abraham. And indeed in
this very account itself there seems a shrinking from
guile and simplicity of heart in Jacob's words, when
he draws back, saying to his mother, '* I shall seem to
him as a deceiver, and bring on myself a curse, and
not a blessing."

But to take a yet larger view of the subject, Jacob
is not only one in that "cloud of witnesses," by
which, as St. Paul says, we are "compassed about,"
as examples in that race which is set before us, but he
is one of those three chosen ones selected of Q-od for
an especial mention of the highest kind as associated
with Himself. For we must remember that God is
known for ever as the God of Abraham, and the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not
ashamed to be called their God. And our Lord
Himself explains this to mean that they still live
with Him, for He is the God of the living, not the
God of the dead. They are with Him. And they
who by faith enter into Christ's kingdom are said
by Him to sit down in the kingdom of Heaven with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nay, more than this,
He is pleased to be spoken of as "the God of
Jacob." Such a one then must not be lightly judged
or with disparagement. Add to which the very
singular care which Gtod seems to have of him,
His communing with him so ofben, so often appear-
ing unto him, to support, direct, and increase him-

JACOB AND ESATJ. 65

He hardly moves from place to place, without a
Divine interference ; when he went to the East, when
he was to return from thence, when he removed into
Egypt, it was under the especial guidance of God.
All these things render his life one of peculiar interest ;
and are seen in strong contrast with the history of
Esau; for Jacoh evidently throughout valued 'and loved
the promises of God, which Esau despised.

It is true that Jacoh's faith is not to be considered
such as that of Abraham ; for Jacob says, " If God
will be with me, and will keep me, . . . then shall the
Lord be my God*." It was indeed conditional;
whereas in Abraham there was nothing of this,
for he served God with a full and free heart, never
saying, " K God will keep me.*' Yet even this
in Jacob was faith acceptable with God ; he thus
spake when he left his country with a staff in his
hand and with a stone for his pillow, and thus he put
his faith to the proof. He was not disappointed, and
he never forgot that promise. Indeed gratitude and
thankfulness seem to mark the whole of his after-life ;
he continually alludes to it, even to the last ; as when
in blessing the sons of Joseph, he says, " The God
which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel
which redeemed me from all evil." And he attributes
all to the same source ; " I had not thought," he says
to Joseph, " to see thy face : and, lo, God hath showed
me also thy seed ^" And he alludes especially to that
God's first protection of him, as when before meeting
with Esau, he says, "O God of my father, ... the Lord
which said unto me, Eetum unto thy country, and to
thy kindred, ... I am not worthy of the least of all

• Gen. xxTiii. 20, 21. ^ Gen. xlviii. 15, 16. 11.

jr

66 JACOB ANJ) XSATT.

the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast
showed unto Thy servant ; for with my staff I passed
over this Jordan ; and now I am become two bands •."

It has been said that they who note providences
shall never want a providence to note. So it was with
Jacob; his life was compassed about with special
providences because he had eyes to observe them.

In furtherance of this we may notice, that what
Jacob is more especially known for is his beholding
visions of God — the very name given him, that of
Israel, has been supposed by some to indicate this '.
And all his history is a beautiful account of it ; the
^dsions of Jacob fill the whole, visions of what was
spiritual and Divine in the highest degree, as to a pil-
grim and sojourner unto that heavenly Jerusalem, the
name of which is supposed to signify " the vision of
peace." He had faith, and to faith was it given to
behold the things of the kingdom of Grod. It was no
light privilege to be visited of Grod, and to behold His
angels, and to be met by them in going out and coming
in on the great stages of life. On his leaving the holy
land he has a vision of angels ; and with a correspond-
ing glad welcome did the angels greet him on returning,
at the very threshold of the same. " And the angels
of God met hin\^ And when Jacob saw them, he said,
This is God's host'." It is indeed as if G^d had
" given His angels charge over him, to keep him in all
his ways," and had bidden them as it were to " encamp
round about " him. "What could be more expressive of
Christ's kingdom than the ladder of Jacob P our Lord
Himself has mentioned it as signifying the highest

• Gen. xxxii. 9, 10. ** St. Aug. in Ps. Ixxv. 3,etpa9sifh,

Gen. xxxii. ] 2.

JACOB AND ESATJ. 67

gifts of His Presence in His Church on earth, for after
speaking of Nathanael as an Israelite indeed, He says
to him in allusion to this, "Hereafter ye shall see
Heaven open, and the angels ascending and descending
on the Son of Man." And this his first vision was
accepted by Jacob in all its fulness, and understood by
him ; for he said on awakening, ** Surely the Lord is in
this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid and
said, How dreadful is this place ! this is none other
but the house of Grod, and this is the gate of Heaven."
How full of significancy beyond all thought is this
expression as spoken of the Holy Land ! How true
of Israel after the flesh afterwards at Christ's coming,
that Grod was there, though he knew it not, and the
very gate of Heaven ! It is indeed like a represen-
tation of what St. Paul says of the Christian, the true
Israel, " That he has come to the Mount Sion, and to
an innumerable company of angels."

And again how full of spiritual wisdom is that
account of Jacob on his return wrestling with the
angel, or with One greater than an angel, whose Name
was Secret, until the breaking of the day ; when in
mystery he saw the face of God, and prevailed ; and
in token of that his prevailing with God had his name
changed to Israel. How does it set forth the wrestling
and struggling of a soul with God in prayer, which
beholds His face, and will not let Him go without a
blessing ; while " the kingdom of Heaven suffereth
violence," and " the violent take it by force." When
in the power of that blessing he prevails, not with God
only, but also with man, for on the morrow he converts
and changes the heart of Esau by humility and
kindness, overcoming evil with good *.

» St. Aug. vol. V. p. 60, ch. i. Ser. v.

r 2

b» JACOB AI^D ESAr.

But Jacob's character is not to be considered onlj
by itself, but as it comes before us in Scripture in
strong contrast with that of his brother Esau, who is
declared to be "a fornicator and profane person'," and
at enmitj with God. Now there was nothing of this
kind which we have been speaking of in Esau; no
wrestling with God, no visions of angels, no ipromises,
no warnings, no communications from Heaven ; for he
evidently had no ears to hear, nor eyes to see the
things of God, because he had no heart to value them.
The first mention of him is as causing grief to both his
parents by his marrying with the daughters of Canaan;
it was a very grievous sin, for it was quite contrary to
all faith in God, Who had done so much in calling
forth Abraham, and separating him from the nations.
And when he sells his birthright there is the same
contempt of God ; it is said, " He did eat and drink,
and rose up, and went his way ;" the account is ex-
pressive of the carnal man which sets at nought God
and His promises ; '* thus Esau,*' it is added, '* despised
his birthright." And then when he loses the blessing
also, and lifts up " the great and exceeding bitter cry,"
it is because the blessings of earth, such as he valued,
went with a father's blessing ; there is no repentance
towards God. "They were but transitory things,"
says St. Gregory, " which he desired in that blessing*."
And then, like Cain, he envies the blessing which he
loses, and purposes in his heart to kill his brother. It
is a strange meeting which he has prepared for an only
brother returning from a far country after more than
twenty years' absence, when he hastens to encounter
him with four hundred men. It is true that he

« Heb. xii. 16. * In Job, lib. xi. 13.

JACOB AND ESATT. 69

afterwards relents, when Jacob had " bowed himself to
the ground seven times " before him, he " ran to meet
him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed
him: and they wept*." This is very affecting; it
showed that he had strong natural feelings, even to
compunction; like as Saul had when David had
overcome him in the same manner. But these are
mentioned in such characters to caution us not to
trust in the like ; for the New Testament has held out
Esau for our warning as one under the displeasure of
God, and a profane person. And while Grod restrained
him from injuring Jacob, yet we may observe it is not
even as with Laban the Syrian, by appearing to him
on this or any other occasion, being the very opposite
to Jacob, who had visions of God.

It is not indeed to be maintained that Jacob was
a perfect and blameless character, but that as a certain
reverence is due to fathers in the flesh, so to those
who may be considered as our fathers in the Spirit,
whom Scripture represents as chosen and beloved of
God, there is some degree of consideration due when
we speak of them. If Jacob describes his life to
Pharaoh as a sad pilgrimage, whose days were few and
evil, this is but the lot of Christians. His life was
that of faith upon the whole, not of sight. Amidst
much increase of substance and outward prosperity, it
does not appear that he was ambitious or worldly-
minded. His prayer to God is that He would give
him "bread to eat, and raiment to put on;'* and
" having food and raiment," says a Christian Apostle,
"let us be therewith content*." Amidst the abun-
dance and riches of Egypt he forgot not the land of

« Gen. xxxiii. 3, 4. « 1 Tim. vi. 8.

70 JACOB AKJ) ESATT.

the covenant and promise, but by Divine inspiration
portioned it out to his children ; as looking forward to
the time " when Shiloh should come '." " Fruitful in
his offspring," says a holy Latin Bishop, " but more
fruitful in riches of the Spirit, he bound that offspring
with the chains of prophecy'." And it is this which
the Apostle to the Hebrews has mentioned as the
great proof of his faith. " By faith Jacob, when he
was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph, and
worshipped*."

To conclude, Esau is in Scripture the type of those
who live after the flesh, and shall die : Jacob of " the
pure in heart," who " see God," and shall see Him
hereafter. "When our Lord said to Nathanael that he
should witness the realization and fulfilment of that
vision of the patriarch in the angels ascending and
descending on the Son of Man, it was in immediate
connexion with the character which He had given
him of one free from guile, and as such a true child of
Israel. In Esau and Jacob, as both sons of Abraham,
are set before us the carnal and spiritual, the bad and
good Christian, where we see that in spite of good
feelings and visitings of remorse, there is a broad line
between them, that in the spiritual-minded there may
be natural infirmities, yet the bent of the whole life is
towards God, and consists of faith in God. For the
world imagines that it sees faults in good people, and
much that is amiable in the worldly ; and therefore it
would confound good and bad ; and thinks that there
is no great difference with God, nor will be in the end.
But God and Scripture teach us very differently ; that

' Gen. xlix. 10. • St. Greg, in Job, b. iv. 63.

» Heb. xi. 21.

JACOB AND ESAU. 7l

notwithstanding appearances there will be seen a
difference as deep and broad as the great gulf fixed
between Heaven and hell. It is very awful to
contemplate two brothers, of the same father and
mother, bom at the same birth, brought up together
under the same roof, yet divided at length by a vast
and eternal separation.

One word more with regard to the text ; they are
the opening words of the last Prophet, Malachi, the
last warning before that silence which preceded Christ's
coming ; he thus begins, " I have loved you, saith the
Lord. Yet ye say. Wherein hast Thou loved us ? "Was
not Esau Jacob's brother ? saith the Lord : yet I loved
Jacob, and I hated Esau." He thus reminds the Jews
that they, as Jacob had been, were then the peculiar
objects of God's love and choice. But when St. Paul
afterwards quotes this passage, saying in his Epistle to
the Eomans, " It is written, Jacob have I loved, but
Esau have I hated V' the reverse had become the
case ; Esau represented Israel after the flesh, who was
rejected, and Jacob the Christian, who by faith had
- become possessed of the birthright and the blessing.
How awful is this change continually going on, whereby
the last becomes first, and the first last. '^ Be not high-
minded," adds the Apostle, " but fear ;" and one
greater than the Apostle, " Hold that fast which thou
hast, that no man take thy crown *."

1 Rom. ix. 13. > Rev. iii. 11.

SERMON YII.

JOSEPH.

Genesis xlix. 23, 24.

'* The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and

hated him :
** But his how abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were

made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob."

These words contain Jacob's own account of his
beloved son Joseph, and shortly comprise all his
history. No doubt the reason why Holy Scripture
has told us so much of Joseph, and rendered the
account of him so singularly attractive is, that the
example may sink deep into our hearts and lives,
suited as it is for every age and condition of life. And
the example comes down to us Christians, hallowed
and enforced by the remarkable figure which Joseph is
given to bear of our Lord Himself; so that it is Christ
speaking to us through Joseph of old, and we are
constrained to think of our Lord Himself throughout.
The dreams of Joseph, of the sheaves bowing down to
his, and the sun, moon, and eleven stars doing obeisance
to him, at once raise our mind to one greater than

JOSEPH. 73

Joseph, at whose Name " every knee shall bow, of things
in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth *.*' Joseph had to bear his cross ; he was " a
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;" he was
stripped of his raiment like our Lord Himself, and
cast into the pit as if dead ; he is known, like our Lord
Himself as described in Isaiah, by his garments dyed
in blood'; his brethren, "moved with envy'," de-
livered him up to the Egyptians, as the Pharisees,
moved with envy, gave up Christ to the Gentiles ; he
was sold by one of them whose name was Judah or
Judas ; and as if to confirm the figure, he is again cast
into the dungeon, " as a dead man out of mind," as
" free among the dead," and " out of remembrance."
He also might say with Christ, " Let not the pit shut
her mouth upon me ;" "I am so fast in prison that I
cannot get forth ;" "I am become as an alien unto my
brethren ;" " Thou hast made me to be abhoreed of
them ;" " fafee witnesses did rise up against me, they
laid to my charge things that I knew not." He was
" numbered with the transgressors ;" to one of those
fellow-sufferers he promises life, to the other not. Then
be is raised on high among the Heathen, saving life
and giving bread, the bread that saveth from death ;
setting forth Him "Who giveth the true Bread from
Heaven ; married to a daughter of Egypt, as Christ's
Bride, the Church, is taken from among the Gentiles ;
then receiving his brethren as one "alive from the
dead," and with words like those of our Lord Himself
after the resurrection, when they were " troubled at
His presence," and " supposed that they had seen a

» Pliil. ii. 10. » Isa. Ixiii. 1—3.

' Acts Tii. 9.

74 JOSEPH.

spirit *," but Joseph says, " Come near to me, I pray
you. And they came near. And he said, I am
Joseph your brother." And then who is this
Benjamin the younger brother, but St. Paul himself,
" of the tribe of Benjamin * ? " And oh, with what
tenderness, what loye is he welcomed and singled out
beyond the rest! "Behold, your eyes see, and the
eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth
that speaketh unto you." And in all these things it
was with Joseph as with Christ, that his exaltation is
brought about by those very means which they took
to destroy him, and render the prophecies of none
effect.

Now it is to be observed that Christ speaks to us
not only in the G-ospels and in the New Testament, in
what is there written of Himself, of what He says and
does, but also throughout the Old Testament in
manifold ways; the Prophets mention many things
concerning Him as accurate in description as history
itself; and the Psalms speak of Him, and express the
thoughts of His heart as the Son of Man, as much as
they do of David and his own history. We have had
occasion to notice how Grod has made the characters
of the Old Testament to represent Him ; as Abel
speaks of His death ; Enoch of His ascension ; Noah
speaks of Him as our place of refuge ; Melchizedeck of
His everlasting Priesthood ; in Moses He is our Law-
giver; in Joshua the Captain of our Salvation; in
Samuel He is the Intercessor ; in David our Eang ;
Samson speaks of His victory in death ; Solomon of
His wisdom in His Church, in hymns, and parables, and
precepts ; Daniel of His honour among the Heathen ;

* Gen. xlv. 3. 12 ; St. Luke xxiv. 37. * Rom. xi. 1.

JOSEPH. 75

Elijah of His miracles and ascension ; Elisha of His
quickening the dead ; and both of these of His mission
to the Gentiles '; and Joseph, as we have just observed,
of His humiliation, and subsequent exaltation to the
light hand of God. These are figures and prophetic
types of the events of our Lord's Incarnation ; but this
is not all ; the Saints of old exhibit severally some point
in our Lord's character, as the Son of Man, for ^^ of
His fulness have all we received, and grace for
grace ;" some grace corresponding to His as moulded
by the same Spirit, representing as it were, however
faulty, some feature of His countenance, some gesture
however imperfectly of His body, some ray from the
indwelling of the same Spirit. Por they received in
measure, He without measure. Thus then again,
Abel speaks of His innocence ; Enoch of His walk with
God ; Noah of His " endurance in hope ^ ;" Job of His
patience ; Abraham of His obedience ; Moses of His
meekness; David of His communion with God;
Daniel of His humiliation for our sins ; Hezekiah of
His " strong crying and tears to Him that was able to
save Him from death ;" Jeremiah of His weeping over
His people ; Isaiah of His beholding the glory that
should be revealed; Elijah of His constant calls to
repentance. Thus they in part and measure bring
forth to us the fulness and perfection of Christ, one
in this way and another in that. Eor "every one that
is perfect shall be as his master','' in some respect
resembling Him. And therefore we may ask in what
particular point of view Christ speaks to us, not only
in the history, but also in the character of Joseph ?

• St. Luke iv. 26. 27. ' St Greg, in Job.

* Luke vl 40.

76 JOSEPH.

For the narrative of Joseph's life is indeed of itself
most engaging and full of interest ; it would be so
whether we were Christians or not ; but it comes
before us greatly heightened, when through the same
Christ speaks to us of Himself; it is then sacred and
divine ; the interest is much increased ; it is doubled
in every part, deepened in every line. It is as when
persons trace in the countenance of a child or a
distant kinsman something that reminds them of a
great or good man to whom he is related. They love
to be reminded of him : it is from their reverence or
affection for him that they notice it. How much
more when it is one and the same Spirit speaking to
us through them ; manifold intimations of the Living
Word, the same yesterday and to-day !

To speak a little more particularly, our Blessed
Saviour's character as the Son of Man, as the Pattern
and Perfection of man in the image of God, is a sub-
ject for continual contemplation ; some point in it for
our meditation is found, now in a Prophet, now in a
Psalm, now in a history or narrative ; some point is
tbus brought out to our attention more fully than the
brief notice of it in the Gospels. As for instance in
the 53rd chapter of Isaiah the picture of His bodily
sufferings is filled up with some incidents not mentioned
by the Evangelists ; some circumstance of His secret
grief we find in Jeremiah, which the Gospel confirms,
but had not brought so distinctly to view; some
expression of His sorrows in a Psalm, as throughout
the 22nd, which we should not otherwise have consi-
dered, for we have in these "the mind of Christ"
suffering in the flesh. And the question now is what
good thing there was in Joseph which may speak to us
of Christ ? for as his sufferings were hallowed by their

JOSEPH. 77

resemblance to those of Christ, as Christ was with
him in those sufferings, much more in his soul also
may be traced the footsteps of his Lord. This will
come out more clearly as we consider Joseph's history.
The first thing which strikes one in the account
of him, is the remarkable manner in which God was
with him throughout. He was forgotten of man, but
not of God. This indeed is incidentally mentioned,
but is impressed on his history throughout as its per-
vading lesson. Thus we read, "And Joseph was
brought down to Egypt." " And the Lord was with
Joseph." " And his master saw that the Lord was
with him." " And the Lord blessed the Egyptian's
house for Joseph's sake." And then in the same chap-
ter, when the scene is changed from the court to the
dungeon, it is again and again repeated that " the Lord
was with Joseph •." So much was this the case, that
St. Stephen in speaking of Joseph, selects this for espe-
cial mention, " The patriarchs, moved with envy, sold
Joseph into Egypt : but God was with him *." But
now what is there in the heart of man that corresponds
to or answers this singular and peculiar Presence of
Gt)d so emphatically mentioned ? It is a feeling and
recognition of that Presence ; and this we shall find
one of the most peculiar marks of Joseph's character.
Pop God is every where alike ; but the effect of this
Presence is not alike to all. The sun may be on many
objects alike, but some things cast aside and reject his
beams, or are hardened or cracked by them, while other
objects drink in his influence, and are made by it full of
life. What we most observe in Joseph is an unceasing
sense of God's Presence; thus when tempted by

< Gen. xxxix. 2. 3. 5. 21. 23. > Acts vii. 9.

78 JOSEPH.

Potiphar's wife, the temptation fell off in an instant.
'^ How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against
God P" God*s eye was upon him ; he felt and knew
it. Come what will he was shielded hj that. Then
next in the prison, to his sad fellow-prisoners he in-
stantly refers all wisdom to God. " And Joseph said
unto them, Do not interpretations belong unto God * ? "
And what he was in the prison he was in the palace ;
his answer to Pharaoh is the same, " It is not in me,
God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace'." Yet
none are so apt to forget that wisdom is from God as
the wise, who attribute it to themselves. It was other-
wise with Joseph. Again, the same instant recog-
nition of God occurs when each of his sons is bom *,
As he afterwards also says, ** These are the sons whom
Qt)d hath given me '." But it comes out more strongly
still in his intercourse with his brethren. He refers
every thing to God. It takes the sting from every
wound, the power from every temptation. " God did
send me before you to preserve life." And again,
" So now it was not you that sent me hither, but Gt)d."
And again, " Go up to my father and say, Qt)d hath
made me lord of all Egypt*." And at last, "Ye
thought evil against me, but Grod meant it unto good^."
Thus we may say, as " God was with him," so he was
with God in all things.

Now our Blessed Saviour was different from all men
in this respect, that in His days on earth He was
compassed about and penetrated with such an intense
coDsciousness, so to speak, of God's Presence. It was

» Gen. xl. & » Gen. xli. 16.

« See Gen. xli. 51, 52. * Gen. xlviii. 9.

* Gen. xlr. 5. 8, 9. ' Gen. I. 20.

JOSEPH. 79

as it were the verj Heaven of Heavens to approach
Him, for it was to approach God. But of this we
cannot speak. In that mysterious union of the two
natures of G-od and man the light is so transcendent
and Divine, that we cannot contemplate it as we should
do, any more than we could gaze upon the sun ; but
this light comes to us softened, the lesson comes
down to ourselves, when He Himself speaks to us in
the example of Joseph : so far as Joseph was of this
mind we are to contemplate in him, not himself, but
Christ. Por even of Christ Himself the Apostle
thinks it meet to say, " He went about doing good, for
Gh)d was with Him *." This intense realizing of God's
Presence was no doubt in Joseph connected with his
chastity, for to the pure in heart it is given to see
God.

Another point akin to the former and inseparable
from it to be considered in Joseph, is his singular
sweetness and affection ; forgiving injuries before the
law of that forgiveness was given by Christ Himself;
with a fellow-feeling for the sorrows of others, attract-
ing to himself the love of all his masters by his dutiful
love for them. When in prison, with what sympathy
does he ask of his fellow-prisoners the occasion of their
sadness! And in his interviews with his brothers,
where shall we find such filial and brotherly affection P
He cannot even endure to witness their mutual
reproaches for the wrong they had done him, and the
intolerable sufferings their malice had occasioned, but
in exceeding tenderness and affection turns aside to
weep — more than once in secret to weep, on seeing
their sorrows. And afterwards he will not allow them

* Acts X. 38.

80 JOSEPH.

to ask for pardon, but says, " Now therefore be not
grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me
hither '." And long after, when their father was dead,
and under the fears of their evil conscience, they besought
his forgiveness, it melted again his compassionate heart.
" And Joseph wept when they spake unto him *." " Am
I in the place of God ? " Ask forgiveness of God, not
of me. "And he comforted them," it is added,
" and spake kindly unto them." And what had filled
his heart with such pity instead of resentment ? What
had borne him up and sustained him under such trials ?
It was this constant sense of God's Presence — it was
beholding His hand in all. In that " fiery trial " he
was " made partaker of Christ's sufferings," though
he knew it not, and the glory of Christ was in him
revealed *.

Such was love in Joseph, with such power to sweeten
domestic troubles, to hallow incidents of life, to render
him meek and gentle, when " the iron entered into his
soul." Content to love, yet not to be loved ; to save,
yet to be forgotten ; full of love when humbled to the
pit, and to the dungeon, and full of love when thence
in due season exalted of God. And combined with this
love was wisdom. St. Stephen speaks of his wisdom';
and Pharaoh says to him, " There is none so discreet and
wise as thou*." There is in St. John the like union
of love and wisdom, but not that human tenderness,
that affectionate yearning and sympathy. And a like
difference may be seen between Joseph and Daniel ;
there is in the latter love and wisdom, but it is more

9 Gen. xlv. 6. » Gen. L 17.

» 1 Pet. iv. 12, 13. » Acts vii. 10.

* Gen. xli. 39,

JOSEPH. 81

lofty, as of one more separate from mankind. There
is also love and wisdom in David, which is in some
respects still nearer to that of Joseph, but the sweet-
ness and gentleness of Joseph is peculiarly his own.
Every star has a hue, every flower a fragrancy,
every countenance an expression different from that
of another; so is it with Divine charity, the one
light of the Heavenly Jerusalem, kindling jewel§ of
many colours.

It would then be a matter of much interest to
dwell on the many incidents recorded of our Lord
which indicate how Divine Love showed itself in
things of this kind — ^not on occasions great and kingly
as David ; not in intercession for a whole nation as
Daniel; but in the more homely scenes of domestic
life ; in His intercourse with those around Him ; His
sympathy with the sorrows of others; His entering
into all their wants, as in the marriage feast at Cana ;
at the grave of Lazarus ; in His tender expostulation
with Martha who was troubled about many things ;
in His eating and drinking with publicans and sinners;
in His being much grieved at those fears and troubles
in His disciples which indicated a want of faith in
Himself; in His weeping over those that were about
to slay Him ; in His discourse with the Twelve at the
Last Supper ; in His being often as one that needed
sympathy but found it not. Li wonderful lowliness
and much sorrow ; rejected of His own but received
of strangers ; while His brethren said, " He is beside
Himself," and they of Nazareth would have put
Him to death ; as of Joseph they said, " Behold, this
dreamer cometh :" yet these things did not stop the
current of His loving-kindness towards them : while
it was seen in every word and work how " God was

82 JOSEPH.

\vitli Him," and it was His meat to do His Father's
wiU.

But there is one point in the history of Joseph
which requires some explanation ; why it was that he
delayed so long making himself known to his bre-
thren ; kept them as it were at a distance in suspense
and fear, prolonging a trial so painful both to himself
and them. St. Chrysostom has supposed that it was
owing to his fears for his brother Benjamin ; appre-
hending that they may have put him also to death.
He had certainly cause for such misgiving, to say no-
thing of his father's own safety. But this is hardly
sufficient to account for his conduct, especially as he
continues in the same after he is aware of Benjamin's
safety. St. Augustine observes that much as it adds
to the sweetness and interest of the narrative, yet
this will not explain it, but there must be grave and
wise reasons for its being thus recorded, and it may
be, he thinks, that it contains something of great
mystical import *. But may we not suppose as Joseph
was so distingmshed for his wisdom, both the wisdom
of Egypt and the wisdom of God, and therefore in his
knowledge of the human heart and modes of dealing
with mankind, that he had some great object and
design worthy of his love and wisdom ; that it was in
order to bring them to repentance, as knowing that
without repentance there could be nofliing good ? We
shall, I think, find all things directed to this end, in a
manner worthy of that great wisdom attributed to
him; he maintained the long struggle so painful to
his own feelings, to bring them to some proof of
repentance towards God, in order that "judging them-

* St. Aug. Qnses in Gen. xlvii vol. iii. 665.

JOSEPH. 83

selves they might not be judged of the Lord.'* And
thus when he found them expostulating with one
another, self-accused and self-condemned, and at
length confessing their guilt so long past and for-
gotten ; this was the part of repentance, and he was
much moved, even unto tears. And then after a
further trial, when he found them loving Benjamin,
tender of his life and safety, and of his father's life
bound up in that of the lad ; then was there satis-
faction indeed : and when at last Judah who had sold
him wished himself to be put in bonds, at length was
the trial completed. Upon this it is added, " Then
Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that
stood by him, . . . and he wept aloud, and the Egyptians
and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said
unto his brethren, I am Joseph, . . . come near to me,
I pray you."

Now a wise and good man deals with others in
some measure as G-od does ; not making a show of his
feelings, nor acting upon them, but counselling dis-
creetly for their real good. And this behaviour of
Joseph in the treatment of his brethren may receive
illustration in that of our Lord Himself, especially in
His keeping persons so long waiting while He called
forth into definite act their repentance and faith ; it
is His mode of dealing with us all unto this present
hour. He knows us, but we know Him not; He
makes Himself strange to us. He speaks roughly to
us; nay, may we not venture to say it, from the
expressions used in His prophets, that on our showing
signs of repentance. He turns away that He may
weep ? How many questionings arise with regard to
the ways of God's mercy which are like those that
occur to us respecting this conduct of Joseph ? "Why
02

84 JOSEPH.

does God so long hide His face from us ? Why is
He as a stranger, knowing us not ? Why does He
leave the storms to arise, and for us to toil so long
in the dark, and to be troubled, before He says, " It is
I ; be not afraid ? ' ' Why does He leave Lazarus to con-
tinue sick and to die, and his sisters to mourn P Why
does He leave Mary Magdalene to seek Him so long and
be perplexed, before He says to her, "Mary, weep
not?" Or to come to this very history, why was
Joseph so long a slave and in prison? Why was
Jacob left so long to mourn in a hopeless sorrow
while his son Joseph was all the while alive? We
can only say with St. Augustine, when he speaks of
Joseph and his brethren, that the light afiSdction was
but for a moment, and not to be compared with the
joy to be revealed. And oh the glad and wonderful
' recognition and restoration to his father! What a
mysterious resemblance does it seem to bear to our
Lord Himself coming alive from the grave, and in
Him to every penitent sinner whom He brings with
Him from death, when "there is joy in Heaven;"
and a voice is heard, " Eejoice with Me :" " for this
my Son was dead and is alive again : He was lost and
is found."

"When the Lord turned again the captivity of
Sion, then were we like unto them that dream. . . . Then
said they among the Heathen, The Lord hath done
great tldngs for them." " He that now goeth on his
way weeping, and beareth good seed, shall doubtless
come again with joy, and bring his sheaves with
him."

SERMON yilL

MOSES.

Numbers xii. 3.

^ Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which
were upon the face of the earth."

SircH is the judgment of God respecting Moses, yet
men might have thought otherwise, for Moses was
by nature ardent and impetuous. Thus God said to
St. Paul, " My strength is made perfect in weakness ;"
and St. Paul testifies of himself, '' when I am weak
then am I strong*." So was it with many of the
Saints of God '. St. Peter, for instance, was called the
Bock, from his firm faith in the Qodhead of Christ ;
but this had ta be perfected in weakness : it was from
want of firmness that St. Peter sank in the deep
waters, till supported by Christ's hand; from want
of firmness he thrice denied, till supported by Christ's
look ; from want of firmness he erred when rebuked
by St. Paul. Thus was it that where most weak there

» 2 Cor. xii. 10.

2 See ** On the Study of the Grospels," part vil sects, v. vi. vii.

86 MOSES.

was he by God's help made most strong. As in a
besieged town all pains are taken to fortify the weak
places until those weak places become its chief
strength ; so the Spirit of God in the soul of man
builds up and establishes where nature was failing,
where Satan in consequence was directing his chief
assaults. Por when good men prayed against their
besetting infirmities, the power of God therein was
given them. Hence, where that which was human
failed, it is supplied by that which is Divine; and
the power is seen to be of God. Thus at length
wherein the soul has been most humbled it shall be
most exalted ; that man may be nothing, and Christ
may be All and in All.

Thus Moses appears to have been naturally of a
temper hasty and vehement ; as we first read of him
in slaying the Egyptian, in defending the daughters
of Jethro from the shepherds. There sounds some-
thing of impatience in his complaint at the first,
'* Lord, wherefore hast Thou so evil entreated this
people? Why is it that Thou hast sent me'?"
And " he went out from Pharaoh," we are told, " in
a great anger*." Again, when on coming down from
the Mount he beheld the idolatry of the Israelites, it
is said, "Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the
two tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath
the Mount*." And on the rebellion of Dathan and
Abiram, " Moses was very wroth, and said unto the
Lord, Bespect not Thou their offering '." And the
sin recorded of him was when, "being provoked in
spirit, he spake unadvisedly with his lips."

« Exod. V. 22. * Exod. xi. 9.

* Exod. xxxii. 19. • Numb. xvi. 15.

MOSES. 87

It is then out of such a temper when controlled by
the fear of God, and moulded by His grace, that the
meekest of men is formed ; and all the trials he had
to undergo through a long life were to form in him
this meekness. Thus when reared in the palace of
Pharaoh, what a trial to his spirit and temper must it
have been to witness the sufferings his brethren had
to undergo ; then for forty years had he to learn
patience in exile and the desert ; and yet more when
commissioned of G-od he stood before Pharaoh, while
he relented so often and again hardened his heart ;
but beyond all what greater trial of temper did any
one ever undergo than that of bearing with the
children of Israel so long in the wilderness P How
often does God Himself speak as unable to bear any
longer with ,them. Such then was the man whom
God chose ; and such his probation like that of gold
in the fire, till at length he came forth as a vessel
perfected and made meet for his Master's use.

"With regard to his slaying the Egyptian, Holy
Scripture does not express approbation of that deed,
but St. Stephen says that it was intended as a sign to
the Israelites "that God by his hand would deliver
them^." "As some weeds," says St. Augustine,
^^ indicate a soil rich and good for cultivation, so his
zeal on that occasion seemed to point out one meet to
be a great Deliverer *." Thus God chooses evils of
nature to be by His grace converted into good. On
the stock of the wild olive is grafted the fruitful
Branch. Thus from the Jewish persecutor of His
Church He brought forth the great Apostle of the
Gentiles; from St. Peter, who drew his sword and

' Acta vii. 26. » Vol. viu. 621 ; vol. iii. 668.

88 MOSES.

deprecated the Cross, the patient Martyr and Con-
fessor ; from St. John, who would bring down aveng-
ing fire from Heaven, the great Teacher of Divine love.

But mark in Moses the working of this temper, and
how it became subdued by Divine grace ; for instance,
when he came down from the Mount Moses was very
wroth, so that Aaron said to him, " Let not the anger
of my lord wax hot ;" but on this very occasion what
a wonderful instance have we of Divine gentleness :
we read that on the morrow "Moses said unto the
people, Te have sinned a great sin : and now I will
go up unto the Lord ; peradventure I shall make an
atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto
the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great
sin. . . . Tet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin — ; and
if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book '." His
anger had been a righteous indignation, a holy jea-
lousy for God'^s honour; but what meekness did it
work in him! Oh, that men who are naturally of
a temper soon moved to anger would do like this!
how would the mercies of God flow in upon the soul,
and their peace abound like a river !

In like manner in the other instance we referred to
where his anger is spoken of, he appears in meekness
to be immediately after deprecating the just wrath of
God. " Take a censer," said Moses to Aaron, " and go
quickly unto the congregation, and make an atone-
ment for them : for there is wrath gone out from the
Lord^" Indeed it might be said that it was owing
to the exceeding meekness of Moses interceding for
them, that God so long spared them throughout their
many provocations and rebellions.

9 Exod. xxxii. 31^ 32. ^ Numb. xvi. 46.

MOSES. 89

On these occasions, and doubtless others of the
same kind, this natural zeal in the disposition of
Moses was not disapproved of God, but sanctified and
perfected, bringing forth the heavenly temper of Divine
charity ; but the one sin of Moses for which he was
visited of God, and not allowed to enter the land of
promise was that on which this hastiness, as it were,
impaired his firm faith in God, when he smote the
Bock twice.

True meekness is shown not in acquiescing at the
sight of sins that are against God, but in taking
meekly offences against oneself ; and the case in which
the statement of the Text is made, that Moses was the
meekest of all men, is when Aaron and Miriam mur-
mur against Moses himself, it is then that God inter-
feres to take up the cause of Moses; and Moses
intercedes for Miriam, and she at his intercession is
restored '. It is on account of this meekness that, as
there stated, he is admitted into such familiar inter-
course with God. " My servant Moses is faithful in
all Mine house. With him will I speak mouth to
mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches."
And indeed on that occasion when he sinned at the
Bock there was a jealousy for God's honour, and im-
patience at the murmuring of the people, when the
faith of Moses gave way and was overclouded. It
was on their account ; when that sin is spoken of,
it is said more than once " the Lord was angry with
me for your sokes ^ " They angered Him at the
waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for
their sakes'."

And here we must observe that this judgment of

« See also Numb. xi. 29. » Ps. cvl 32; Deut. i. 37; "i. 26.

90 HOSES.

God on that sia did not imply that He had blotted
Moses out of His book of life, or the number of the
Saints, or otherwise than forgive his sin. For He
continued still to talk with him, and advise with him
of the governing of His people, and spake to Joshua
that he should be faithful to Him as His servant
Moses. That was not the true Canaan from which he
was shut out, but onljr the figure and shadow ; and
that he was allowed to see ; a vision well worthy of all
his labours, for the more excellent things signified by
it. And that sin and its punishment was itself
hallowed in a Divine mystery, and signification of
Christ's future kingdom. That Eock was Christ ; and
the rod spoke of His Cross ; and the failing of Moses
of the Apostles failing in that trial ; even those with
whom Q-od had conversed face to face, and spoken with
as to friends, " even apparently " and openly, and not
in proverbs. As Moses wavered at the smiting of the
Eock, so Apostles doubted at the Cross, when the
Eock was smitten, and found in it ^^a stone of stumbling
and rock of offence," as St. Peter thrice denied, and had
before deprecated that Cross ; and the disciples going
to Emmaus said, as having lost hope, " We trusted that
it should have been He Who should have redeemed
Israel." But at the Eesurrection they saw the land
of promise, and doubt died. And at the Ascension
when they went up the Mount of Olives, they saw as
it were still more the promised land, though they
entered not in, till death had closed their eyes. And
from the Mount of the Transfiguration also they had
a view of that promised land of the Eesurrection, and
of the glory that shall be revealed. And Moses was
there as one who shall with them enter into that
better land hereafter, though he entered not into that

MOSES. 91

Canaan which was but the figure of the true. Ho
saw and he bare witness, and he led Israel thither, but
he entered not in ; and this too in figure, as setting
forth that it is not for the Law to enter in, but the
grace which follows, and is prefigured in Joshua*.
" For the Law was given by Moses, but grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ." And again, " The Law
made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better
hope did *." And indeed the imperfection of the
Law was shown in the Lawgiver himself. For that
Israel might not glory in man, but look forward to
Him that was to come, God has been pleased that one
so exalted, and brought so near to Himself as Moses
was, should be thus reproved in death, as falling short
of the glory of Grod.

Such then was Moses ®, of whom it is said that he
was '' a merciful man, which found favour in the sight
of all flesh, beloved of God and men, whose memorial
is blessed'." Great in wisdom, for "mysteries are
revealed unto the meek ;" and wise in greatness, for
the meek are upholden of God. We think of Moses
in connexion with the Holy Mount as one above the
world ; the Mount Sinai where he was alone with God ;
the Mount Horeb with the smitten Eock; the mountain

* St. Aug. vui. 470. » Heb. vii. 19.

* The character of Moses is thus beautifully given by St.
Augustine : ** Hunc Moysen, humilem in recusando tam magnum
ministerium, subditum in suscipiendo, iidelem in servando, stren-
uum in exsequendo ; in regendo populo vigilantera, in corrigendo
vehementem, in amando ardentem, in sustinendo patientem ; qui
pro eis quibus prsefuit, Deo se interposuit consulenti, opposuit
irascenti ; hunc talem ac tantum virum . . . et amamus^ et
admiramur, et quantum possumus imitamur." (Con. Fans. xxii.
Tol. Tiii. 621.)

' EccluB. xly. 1.

92 MOSES.

top where he interceded against Amalek ; the Mount
Fisgah where he saw the promised Canaan, and was
buried of God ; the Mount Sion which he beheld in
the distance as the place of the Law ; and the Mount
Tabor where he was again seen with Christ. Now
this may serve by way of similitude to express Moses
as compared with other men ; he is on the top of the
mountain with God ; he walks on high with God ; he
is not as other men, but raised far above, conversing
with Grod, illumined by God's Presence ; his ways are
on the high mountain, and his feet clad with the
Gospel ; his stature ts seen on the sky glowing in the
golden light of the evening sun, and appearing to us
below as one greater than man ; yet though so eminent
and exalted of God, he was not high-minded, but
meek, meekest of men.

And thus with regard to the character given of
Moses, it is peculiar in this from that of all men ; that
it is the one character which our Blessed Savioiu* has
expressly taken to Himself, as peculiarly His own ; for
he says,- " Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of
heart." Abraham was faithful ; Joseph was chaste ;
Job was patient ; Solomon was wise ; Daniel a man of
love; but none of these characters has our Lord
singled out for especial mention as His own, but that
of Moses, which is meekness, and with the promise
that they who of Him learn this meekness shall find
rest. Now Moses took them not into that rest, which
was signified by the Sabbath, and by the Canaan, which
was held out to them of God. He entered not in
himself; but in not entering in he was made partaker
of that rest of which Canaan itself was but the figure ;
for on account of his meekness he found rest in God.
Thus by being shut out he was in the secret mercies of

MOSES. 93

God more truly admitted into that rest ; — like St. Peter,
thrice allowed to express his love, because of his three-
fold denial, and gifted thereby with his shepherd's
staff, and his Master's Cross ' ; — in judgment he found
mercy, and in death, life ; lost the earthly that he
might enter into the heavenly Canaan; for he was
worthy of a better rest.

But in considering the history of Moses our atten-
tion is most drawn to our Lord's own words, " Had ye
believed Moses, ye would have believed Me : for he
wrote of Me'." Moses wrote of Christ, spoke of
Christ, represented Christ, and that in ways many and
manifold. His history is indeed all of Christ ; it is
all the Gospel under a veil ; by One and the same
Spirit ; of One and the same Christ ; by One and the
same Father that revealeth from above to the secret
heart. And thus when God first appeared unto
Moses, and called him, it was with the Name of the
Everlasting God, ** I AM." As not to the Jews only,
but to us of all time does He speak through Moses.
And on the same occasion not only does He. proclaim
Himself by the name of the Everlasting God, but also
by a name by which He is to be known for ever, as
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as putting on
our nature and coming to dwell among us. And then
in that Burning Bush from which He spake, the fire
was of Heaven, of the Everlasting Light, but the Bush,
which it consumed not, was of earth ; the Godhead and
the Manhood, compassed about with thorns of suffering
flesh. And then through Moses in the fires of Mount
Sinai He gives forth the Law, which by another and
better Pentecost is to be written on the heart in grace

» St. John xxi. 18. « St. John v. 46.

04 HOSES.

and love. The veil is taken away from the face of
Moses, and we see in him the meekness of Christ, like
that glory from Him which made his face to shine.
Moses had said unto them, "A Prophet shall your
Lord God raise up unto you, like unto me." Like
unto Moses, not only in that Moses bears in many
ways the image and figure of the Word made Flesh,
but also in this character of meekness.

Thus the Law itself comes to us clothed as it were
in " the meekness and gentleness of Christ " our Law-
giver ; and the Spirit Himself, who writes that Law
on the heart, " intercedeth for us with groanings that
cannot be uttered ;" and He that gives us the com-
mand, gives us also the Spirit of prayer, by which that
life-giving command may be obeyed.

Let us consider this a little more particularly.
Take the four first of the ten commandments given by
Moses on Mount Sinai. These four speak to us of the
love of God, and contain within them all the parts and
duties of this love. These commandments, we are told
by Moses, are to be written on all that we say, and do,
and think ; they are to be inscribed on all that we
possess, or seek, or know ; they are to possess our-
selves. But now our Blessed Saviour, in His unspeak-
able meekness, as the Son of Man giving us to partake
of His grace, has converted as it were those command-
ments into a daily prayer. For when in the Lord's
Prayer we pray to God as " Our Father," what is this
but owning the one and only God, and "none other " but
Him, as our God and Father, and seeking from Him
in meekness all that this the first commandment would
require ? And when we add to this, " Which art in
Heaven," we set aside all idols, and turn to God Who
is a Spirit, and must be " worshipped in spirit and in

HOSES. 95

trutl," through Him Who is the only Mediator
between God and man. We do what we can to
engraft on our hearts through the meekness of prayer
the second commandment. And when we next pray,
" Hallowed be Thy name," we seek His all-powerftil
aid to fulfil in all its duties the third commandment of
" Not taking Good's name in vain." We reverence there-
by that Holy Name by which we are called, the Anointed
One, Whose Name is upon us, in Whose anointing
we partake ; we " sanctify the Lord God in the heart."
And when we add, " Thy kingdom come," Y^e remember
in prayer that sabbath of rest which God has promised,
we hold in solemn remembrance that kingdom which
is a perpetual sabbath, and the coming in of the day
of God. Thus it is that the commandments written
on tables of stone are impressed on our hearts by the
Holy Spirit in prayer, through the meekness of Christ.
Thus hath He turned the fires of Mount Sinai into
the tender light of Mount Sion. Thus the com-
mandments, which could not give rest, in the
New Man become the yoke of Christ, and through
meekness bring to Him Who is our Eest. Thus
then it is that the character of the Lawgiver Him-
self represents in figure the Mediator of the new
covenant, Him on Whose countenance we may look
and be transformed into the same image of meek-
ness, through the Spirit of Him Who speaketh to
the heart in prayer. Thus God Who gave out the
Law amidst the terrors of Mount Sinai, proclaimed at
the same time His name as '' the Lord God, merciful
and gracious, long-sufiering, and abundant in good-
ness';" and as a pledge of His goodness promised

^ Exod. xxxiv. 6,

96 MOSES.

another Lawgiver, Who should speak as Gted, yet
should be compassed about with brotherly sympathies;
" a prophet from among your brethren," one Who is
meek beyond the sons of men, and Whose yoke
through that meekness is made easy and His burden
light. Eor He Who is the Lawgiver is Himself the
Comforter ; He is Himself our Law, and He Himself
is Love, and through meekness we partake of Him.
He that is most meek prays most ; for the life of the
meek is of itself a continual prayer ; and he that prays
most enters most into that '* rest which remaineth for
the people of God."

Let no one then say, " I am by nature passionate,"
for so was Moses, the meekest of men ; but let him
learn to say rather, " It is God that girdeth me with
strength of war, and maketh my way perfect." " Thou
hast given me the defence of Thy salvation; Thy
right hand also shall hold me up, and Thy loving
correction shall make me great'."

2 Ps. xviii. 32. 35.

SERMON IX.

AAEON.

Hebrews v. 4.

** And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is
called of God, as was Aaron.*'

Iir considering the history of Aaron we must have
been struck with the absence of strength and point in
his own character ; we might almost say with ihiB want
of character altogether. So that gifted as he was in
speech beyond Moses, yet no saying of wisdom is
recorded of him ; and though he bore so eminent a
part in the most important history of the world, and
the miraculous events which accompanied the establish-
ment of the Law, yet no memorable action is men-
tioned of himself alone; all is in conjunction with
Moses, nothing apart by himself. And even his sins
seem to have been owing rather to a want of strength
in his character, than from a disposition to evil ; his
making the golden calf was in obedience to the people ;
his contention against Moses appears to have been
rather at the instigation of Miriam than his own ; and
when Moses himself failed in faith at the Bock, Aaron

98 AABON.

was combined with him in that fall ; it is spoken of as
the sin of both in common '.

But now what is the reason of this, that God should
have chosen one to act a part so eminent, who has in
himself so little to arrest our interest or claim our
admiration ? It is no doubt in order that our atten-
tion may be turned away from the man to the office.
We behold him great indeed, as the " Prophet " of
Moses, as speaking from him of the things of God ;
we see him in '* the robe of honour, and clothed with the
perfection of glory ;" with the golden crown of " Holi-
ness unto the Lord " on his head, and the Urim and
Thummim, with the twelve tribes shining in radiant
jewels on his breast ; " in his coming out of the sanc-
tuary, as the morning star in the midst of a cloud, and
as the moon at the full *." But in himself and of
himself we see him not, either in greatness of mind,
or in wisdom, or in goodness. "With the censer in his
hand he is all-prevailing ; with the rod of God the
wonder-worker ; in his ministrations he is as a con-
tinual mediator; but without the insignia of his
calling we know him not. And all this, that more
clearly may be seen the dignity itself of the Priesthood
first instituted in him. As St. Paul says, " We have
this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of
the power may be of God'."

But as Aaron is the prototype and representative of
the Priesthood, does this signify the Jewish Priest-
hood and that of the Law engaged in the services and
sacrifices of the Temple ? It cannot be confined to

I Numb. XX. 12. * Ecclus. 1. 5, 6. 1 1.

> 2 Cor. iv. 7.

AABON. 99

this altogether, though it be so in some measure and
after a manner. For it is said of the Priesthood
instituted in Aaron that it is to continue for ever.
The words are, '' Thou shalt anoint them," i.e. Aaron
and his sons, ** that thej may minister unto Me in the
Priest's office, for their anointing shall surely be an
everlasting priesthood ^." As it is elsewhere expressed,
*' Moses consecrated and anointed him ;" and '' this was
appointed by an everlasting covenant, so long as the
heavens should remain, that they should minister unto
Him'." This then could not have been the legal
Priesthood, for that was then to be abolished, and has
now abeady ceased. It could not, as St. Augustine says,
have been spoken of the figure or shadow which was
to pass away, but of that substance in which it was to
be fulfilled, that this continuance was to be *. But
now in what is this true fulfilment of the Legal Priest-
hood ? for of itself it '^ served but as an example of
heavenly things," . . . "according to the pattern
shewed in the Mount';" it was but, as St. Paul says
of the Sabbath, " a shadow of things to come, but the
body is of Christ *." Is it then our Lord's own Per-
sonal Priesthood, that by which He offered up the
one great Sacrifice of Himself upon the Cross, and
hath entered within the vail; that which He now
exercises, unseen by us, in Heaven, as our Intercessor
and Mediator on the right hand of Ood ? No, this
could not have been the fulfilment of that which was thus
ordained in Aaron ; for we are told expressly that Christ
is the High Priest for ever, " after the order of Melchi-

4 Exod. xl. 15. s Ecclus. xly. 15.

« Vol. viL p. 741 . ' Ueb. yiii. 5.

• CoL it 17.

e2

iOO AAEOir.

sedec, and not after the order of Aaron'." Of that
High Priesthood it must he said, as of Melchizedeck,
and as of the Holy Spirit, that we " know not whence
it Cometh, nor whither it goeth." In what then is to
be found the everlasting Priesthood of Aaron ? It is
no doubt in that which Christ still exercises below in
the sight of men by the ordinance of the Christian
ministry. This is the anointing " by an everlasting
covenant as long as the Heavens shall remain." " For
the Law maketh men High Priests which have infir-
mity *." Eemoved by death, they are ever renewed by
the anointing of the Blessed Spirit which abideth for
ever.

The Levitical Priesthood itself while the Law de-
clared it to be an everlasting Priesthood, yet was
compassed about in all its bearings with death and
sin. All things in the institution of Aaron and in
the fulfilment of his office indicated this infirmity;
the consecrating of Aaron, with all its requirements,
the washing, and cleansing, and sanctifying, and the
ofiering for himself before he ofiered for others *. On
all is stamped the acknowledgment of sin and weak-
ness, such as could have no place in Him who was the
High Priest after the order of Melchizedeck. Such
therefore by reason of death could not continue, nor
set forth Him Who "abideth a Priest continually,"
after the power of an endless life. Aaron signifying
the Priesthood as well as Moses signifying the Law died
first, and neither of them led the people into the land
of promise ', leaving that for the true Joshua to do.

Thus the last Prophet, Malachi, when he speaks of

s
Heb. vii. 11. » Heb. vii. 28.

^ See Lev. xiii. ix. &c. ' St. Aug. viii. 356.

AAEOK. 101

our Lord's speedy coming to His temple, says, " He
shall sit as a refiner, and purify the sons of Levi ;"
but as our Lord's coming did away with the temple
and its sacrifices, it is evident that it is in His Church
He is thus to sit, purifying the everlasting Priesthood
He had appointed. And of this we have a lively
representation in the Eevelation where our Lord, as
the Befiner, in addressing the Angels of the Churches
which He holds as, seven stars in His right hand,
with " His eyes as a flame of fire," and " His counte-
nance as the sun," yet preserves still the figures of
the Legal Priesthood, appearing in the midst of the
seven candlesticks, " clothed with a garment down to
the foot, and girt about with a golden girdle." Thus
as He then says of Himself, ** 1 am Se that liveth and
was dead ; and behold, I am alive for evermore," so
the same may be said of the visible Priesthood. And
this its revival and continuance was beautifully set
forth in Aaron's rod preserved in the sanctuary toge-
ther with the Manna which prefigured the Bread from
Heaven. For that Hod speaks at once of the Cross
of Christ, budding forth after His death into that
Christian Priesthood which He had left to take His
place upon earth. That which was dead is alive in a
more Divine and glorious form.

And thus when God in the Prophet Malachi says
that He has " no pleasure " in those His priests after
the Law, " nor will accept an offering at their hands,"
it is added that " from the rising of the sun even unto
the going down of the same," " in every place incense
shall be offered unto His Name, and a pure offering."
For thus since our Lord's death in the Liturgies of
the Church is the incense ; and in the memorial of
His death the continual sacrifice; while as Priests

102 AAEOK.

after the order of Aaron, the Christian minister uses
the same form of Benediction which was given to the
sons of Levi ; as in our Service for the Visitation of
the Sick*.

It is then in connexion with the Christian Priest-
hood that we consider the history and character of
Aaron. And here the first thing that occurs to us is
that all the power of Aaron consists in his conjunction
with Moses ; through Moses and Aaron are carried on
all the mighty works, the ordinances, and guidings of
the people throughout. Their history comes to us like
their names together, " Moses and Aaron." Without
Moses Aaron is as nothing in himself, excepting for
the Priesthood which he hears. Considering Aaron
then as representing the Christian Priesthood, we
must look upon Moses in lujion with him as a figure
of our Lawgiver Himself. Thus Aaron is made en-
tirely subordinate to Moses and subject to him. This
appears in the first mention of Aaron when God says
to Moses, " Thou shalt speak unto him, and put words
in his mouth." "And he shall be thy spokesman
unto the people ; and he shall be to thee instead of a
mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God \"
Of which St. Augustine says, " Perhaps herein is to
be traced a great sacrament of which this bears the
figure, that Moses is as mediator between God and
Aaron; Aaron the mediator between Moses and the
people." •* It clearly indicates," he says, " the prin-
cipid place to be in Moses, the ministration in
Aaron'." Similar words are again repeated in the
Book of Exodus which seem to contain this mysterious

* Numb. vi. 23. 27- * Exod. iv. 16, 16.

* Quaes, in £xod. vol. iii. 670.

AABOir. 103

alliuuon to a Di?ine Mediator. " And the Lord," we
read, *^ said unto Moses, See, I ha?e made thee a god
to Pharaoh ; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy pro-
phet'."

And this indeed marks the whole history; every
thing is in conjunction with Moses, every thing in
subordination to him. Moses directs, counsels, re-
proves Aaron. He speaks to God for him, and inter-
cedes in his behalf; and when it is said that '^ the
Lord was very angry with Aaron V' Aaron is spared
at the intercession of Moses. He speaks to God for
him ; and he speaks to Aaron from God continually
and throughout ; in Egypt before Pharaoh ; in the
guidance of the people through the wilderness ; in the
institution of the sacred ordinances and laws. Aaron
addresses him with deference, though Moses was his
younger brother, and calls him "My lord.'* When
the face of Moses shone on his coming down from the
Mount, it is said that Aaron as well as the rulers
feared to approach him '. Moses with the rod of God
prevailed against Amalek in prayer, but Aaron and
Hur had the humbler ministration of sustaining his
hands '. Through all these things we distinctly read
that the Christian Priesthood as represented by Aaron
are as nothing of themselves, but in union with and
submission to their great Lawgiver; that they are
always to be approaching God through the One
Mediator which is Christ, they are to do nothing but
at His bidding, at His appointment, and in conjunc-
tion with Him ; they are to receive all at His mouth,
and as from His mouth to speak for Him to the
people.

' Exod. vii. 1. « Deut. ix. 20.

» Exod. xxxiv. 30. » Exod. xvii. 12.

104 AAjaoK.

It IS He that intercedes like Moses on the Mount
till the going down of the sun, but He requires that
the Christian Priesthood should in lowly co-operation
unite with Him, and as it were aid in the lifting up of
His hands. He is thus graciously pleased to combine
them with' Himself.

Thus we learn that in the Christian Priesthood we
are not to look for any great wisdom, or power of
intellect, or strength of mind beyond other men, of
themselves, but as they are in conjunction with Christ,
speak to us from Him, and as far as He is Himself with
them and confirming their words. " The Priest's lips "
are to " keep knowledge ;" " for he is the messenger
of the Lord of hosts *." It is because they speak not
their own words but the words of God. " I will be
with his mouth," said God, "and he shall be thy
spokesman unto the people." "I will give you a
mouth and wisdom," says our Lord to His disciples ;
" it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father
which speaketh in you." Thus all their strength is as
being with Christ; speaking from Him, and with Him,
as His ambassadors and stewards. His " prophets," i. e.
as speaking for Him. He is the Rock on which they
are built ; His Cross has become their guiding staff
by which they go before and guide the sheep ; the rod
in their hands that works wonders ; but the less they
are in themselves the more will His strength be seen
in them. Nay, more ; they of themselves are com-
passed with infirmities, and this will appear whenever
they are apart from Him.

Hence not only is the character and institution of
Aaron full of warning and instruction, but so also are

«Mal.ii.7.

AABOK. 105

the most marked events in his history. When Aaron
with Miriam *' spake against Moses,'* the exceeding
meekness of Moses himself is mentioned in aggravation
of their conduct ; there was in him such an absence of
self-seeking. " Enviest thou for my sake ? " he said on
another occasion to Joshua, " would God that all the
Lord's people were prophets." We see in Apostles
the like tendency to err against the meekness and
mercies of Christ; and both occasions continue to
carry on the like caution to the Christian ministry.
The offence Moses had given was that he '' had mar-
ried the Ethiopian woman," so the stumbling-block
to the first Apostolic Priesthood was in the mystery
of Christ, that His mercy had espoused the Church of
the Gtentile.

Again, it is not without surprise and disappointment
that we read of Aaron himself, when Moses was
absent in the Mount with God, making the golden
calf for the people, and joining them in that terrible
Ming away; and this too after God had wrought
such great miracles by his hand. It is indeed as if
he had cast to the ground the rod which God had put
into his hands, and it had there become a serpent.
His fEuth failed, and the High Priest of God had
become the maker of an idol. There is an occasion
which much corresponds with this recorded in the
Gospels which we cannot think of without something
of the like astonishment. It is when our Lord came
down fix)m the Mount of Transfiguration, and found
His own Apostles whom He had left below failing in
faith, so that they were unable to cast out the unclean
spirit from the child; and then too it was in like
manner under the pressure of the multitude, and of
the Scribes questioning and confounding them. And

106 AABOK.

this falling away too was so remarkable, that it drew
from our liord Himself an expression as it were of
wonder and disappointment, as it had done from Moses
on the former occasion: ''O faithless and perverse
generation,'' He exclaimed, " how long shall I be with
you ? how long shall I suflfer you ? "

And these two events recorded in Scripture which
seem so remarkably to correspond with, and confirm
each other, naturally lead on our thoughts to consider
whether they may not be intended as a warning, re-
presenting to us something to occur in the Christian
Church hereafter;— even in these latter days, when our
Lord being with God, and absent as it were on the
Mount, He shall find on His return His own ministers
falling away. Por in like manner of surprise or mourn-
ful prophecy, when speaking of the great power which
His elect have in prayer with Q-od, He adds, " Never-
theless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find
faith upon the earth' ?"

The circumstance is quite amazing, that Aaron should
have made a golden calf for the people to worship, yet
in these latter days of which we speak, something
occurs which may have a resemblance to it in character,
when " the abomination of desolation shall stand in the
holy place." Of both alike we may say in the words
of St. John in the Eevelation, " When I saw I wondered
with great admiration ^'* And it may be that as at
our Lord's first coming the Jewish Priesthood with
Scribes and Pharisees, so at His second coming the
Christian Priesthood shall be found wanting. Por
when our Lord spake in those awful terms respecting
His last coming, it was St. Peter himself that asked

' St Luke xviii. a * Rev. xvii. 6.

AABOK. 107

the question, whether He alluded particularly to them-
Belves whom He left as His stewards and servants ; to
which our Lord spake in answer of ^' that faithful and
wise steward" made bj his Lord "ruler over His
household ;" but as if intimating this w^ant of fidelity,
He added, '' But and if that evil servant shall say in
his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming, and shall
begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat
and drink, and be drunken ; the Lord of that servant
will come in a day when he looketh not for Him *."
Now here it is implied that such evil servant will think
within himself that his Lord is delaying, and yet He
had just said that His return should be very speedy
and sudden. In like manner we are astonished to find
that when the absence of Moses in the Mount had been
for so very short a time, yet it should have given rise
to such unbelief and idolatry ; for there likewise it is
said, " When the people saw that Moses delayed to
come down from the Mount, they gathered themselves
together unto Aaron, saying. As for this Moses, the
man that brought us iip out of Egypt, we wot not
what is become of him ®." Yet he had only been out
of their sight for forty days. And our Lord's ex-
pression of His faithless servant, that he " shall eat
and drink, and be drunken," seems to imply that intoxi-
cation of the heart which Moses found on his return ;
that "music and dancing," when "the people," it is
said, " sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to
play." It seems as if the accounts of both these
occurrences are thus given to correspond with each
other to draw our thoughts to the resemblance.
But in our Lord's description of the failure of His

' St. Luke xii. 45, 46. < Exod. xxxii. I.

108 AAEON.

Priesthood there is another point which we cannot
pass over without notice : for the power of His Priest-
hood, the unction of the Holy One, or as it is expressed
in the Law of Moses, "the anointing of the everiasting
covenant," depends on the mutual love and union with
which they are bound together. For the Priesthood
of Aaron when it was ratified in the Christian Church
was founded not in one as Aaron, but in twelve. The
Urim and Thummim, the light and truth of God, was
to be one formed of twelve, and therefore depended on
their mutual union and adherence. And this power our
Lord represents as broken in the last days, when love
waxing cold, the servant whom He hath left as ruler
of His household "shall begin to beat his fellow
servants." And thus the blessing that came upon the
Head of Aaron, the anointing oil by whjch He was
consecrated, is spoken of as representing Divine love,
or union among brethren. It is indeed this union of
Christian fellowship which exhibits that secret anointing
of the Spirit to the people, this union especially of the
Priesthood ; by " this shall all men know that ye are
My disciples," — that ye My Apostles partake of the
true anointing, — " if ye have love one to another." It
is to this that the increase is promised, and the
enduring life. " The precious ointment upon the head,
that ran down unto the beard, even unto Aaron's
beard ; and went down to the skirts of his clothing ;
like as the dew of Hermon;" "for there the Lord
promised His blessing, and life for evermore." Thus
therefore it was that while Aaron only represents one
Priest separately in his relation to God, and also to the
people, or the one Priesthood, yet his very anointing
is spoken of by the Psalmist as indicating this brotherly
concord, in which the unction and power, the goodliness

AABON. 109

and joj, tlie sweetness and strength of that Priesthood
would consist. For in this the Christian benediction is
**the fellowship of the Holy Ghost," in union with
which is found " the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of Gk>d."

In conclusion, it may be observed that there is one
circumstance which strikes one in connexion with the
history of Aaron with respect to the Christian Priest-
hood, which may give rise to some awful reflections.
Aaron fell into great sins, and these much aggravated
by hia being a Priest of God, yet for none of these
is be punished. Aaron, together with his sister
Miriam, rebelled and spake against Moses, " and the
anger of the Lord," it is said, " was kindled against
them." Miriam was immediately stricken with leprosy.
** And Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she
was leprous ;" but we do not read of Aaron himself
being punished for that sin^. And so likewise when
Aaron had made the idolatrous calf, the people were
heavily visited for that sin, but not Aaron himself,
" The Lord plagued the people, because they made the
calf, which Aaron made*." Now what are we to
understand from this but that the sin of the Priest is
especially reserved for the judgment of God ; it is
beyond what human law can reach ; indeed human
laws are only able to take into account sins that are
against society ; they cannot punish sins against God.
In a peculiar manner " to his own master he standeth
or falleth."

Now all these considerations which the circum-
stances and the character of Aaron give rise to are,
I think, especially calculated for the Laity, as leading

7 Namb. xii. ' Exod. xxxii. 35.

110 JLABON.

tbem to sobriety of thought and expectation respecting
the Clergy ; that while they " esteem them very highly
in love for their work's sake," they do not look for too
much in their personal powers and endowments, and
even in their spiritual attainments; but endeavour in all
things to look beyond them to Him whose servants and
representatives they are, " the One Mediator between
God and man, the Man Christ Jesus ;'* and especially
should these reflections lead them to a more than
ordinary compassion for their infirmities and failings,
as remembering that they have to give an account of
their stewardship to their own Master, and not to His
people ; and therefore as having, beyond all others, a
claim upon their prayers. " If one man sin against
another, the judge shall judge him ; but if a man sin
against the Lord, who shsdl intreat for him ' ?"

> 1 Sam. iu 25.

SERMON X.

PHAEAOH.

Exodus ix. 12.
^ And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh/'

Thxbe is BO doubt some great reason why the
history of Fbaraoh should be so much held up to our
remembrance; and the most marked point con-
nected with him is that Scripture, in reference to him,
with such remarkable frequency and repetition, uses
the expression that Ood hardened his heart. This
then requires our particular attention. It is indeed
said in this account that Pharaoh hardened his own
heart, or that his heart was hardened ; but the point
which strikes us, and is no doubt intended to do so,
is that of the Text.

It may be that the conduct of Pharaoh is so lifted
up to our eyes, as casting its shadow over the future,
as containing in it the resemblance of other events, as
a prophecy ; for in Scripture history is often prophecy,
and prophecy is often history. There are two
occasions which Pharaoh seems to foreshadow ; and on
both of which the like expression, so startling and

112 FHABAOH.

impressive, is used, attributing the effect to God. The
one is when Israel itself after the flesh takes the place
of Pharaoh, and persecutes the Israel after the Spirit,
the true children of Abraham, when God brings them
out from the faUing Jerusalem '* with signs and with
wonders," " and with an outstretched arm ;** then also
this expression is drawn out from the Prophets, and
marked by the Evangelists. "But though He had
done so many miracles before them," says St. John,
" yet they believed not on Him. . . . They could not
believe, because that Esaias said. He hath blinded their
eyes, and hardened their heart. . . . These things, said
Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him '."
And our Lord Himself frequently refers to the same.

Another point to be observed in this and other like
passages of Scripture is, that not only is such stated
to be the case, but it is also shown that God had
Himself declared beforehand that it should be so.
** They could not believe, because that Esaias said."
And in Isaiah the commission is expressly given to
*' Go and harden their hearts, make their ears heavy,
and shut their eyes'." The same is the case in this
history in Exodus. Thus it is said beforehand to
Moses, when he is first appointed to go to Pharaoh,
that he is to " do all those wonders before " him,
" but," it is added, « I will harden his heart*." And
this, viz. that God had so foretold it from the begin-
ning, is alluded to in the passage of the text, and in
other places where the like is stated, that " the Lord
hardened his heart, and he hearkened not; as the
Lord," it is added, "had spoken by Moses." And

> St, John xii. 37—40. » Isa. vi. 9, iO.

» £xod.iv. 21.

PHAEIOH. 113

again, " And He hardened Pharaoh's heart, as the Lord
had said." And before his going unto him it is again
repeated, ''Thou shalt speak all that I command
thee. . . . And I will harden Pharaoh's heart," and
" Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you*." Thus pains
are taken in Scripture not only to express this, that Grod
hardens the heart, but also to point it out as especially
God's own doing by the prophecies going before.

All this is again shown by St. Paul in the 9th
chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, where he dwells
on the same at great length, referring in the first
place to this hardening of the heart by God Himself
in the case of Pharaoh, and then applying it to the
Jews, and pointing out especially that God had before-
hand foretold this His doing. We may express it in
the words of the Psalmist; "God spake once, and
twice I have also heard the same : that power
belongeth unto God." "And all men that see it
shall say. This hath God done ; for they shall perceive
that it is His work *."

The other period on which the account of Pharaoh
seems to bear is that of Antichrist ; so much so, that
in the Eevelation, like plagues to those of Egypt
are described as then occurring; and like as the
magicians worked their false miracles before Pharaoh,
it is said, "The spirits of devils, working miracles,
shall go forth to kings'." Antichrist shall come with
" great signs and wonders " to deceive ; it shall be with
" seducing spirits." But now of those days the like
striking expression is used, referring it to God, " God
shall send on them a strong delusion, that they shall

♦ Exod. vii. 13. 2—4. « Ps. Ixii. 11 ; Ixiv. 0.

• Rev, XVI, 14.

I

114 FHABAOH.

believe a lie.'* The same may apply to different ages
and countries, after a manner. It has often been
observed that before destruction comes on a guilty
nation, there goes before a strong infatuation and a
hardness of heart against warnings and judgments, so
much so that it has passed into a proverb, that. God
sends madness before destruction.

Before entering more particularly into this subject,
we may just notice this awful and impressive circum-
stance, that under this judicial blindness from God a
change takes place before men are aware of it, so that
the people of God become the people of Satan. Israel
in Egypt bore the strongest stamp of being God's peo-
ple : their being called out of Egypt to hold a feast
or sacrifice unto God in the wilderness ; their being
unharmed amidst the evils of Egypt ; their light amidst
the darkness ; the rod of Moses ; the passage of the
Bed Sea ; the Passover, and going forth at midnight
in haste, the loins girded, and shoes on their feet, and
staff in their hand ; all these, and manifold more, are
lively figures of those who are looking for and hasten-
ing unto the kingdom of God — they are the very type
and parable of the Christian Church. Strange, that
while they were in the Psalms speaking of Israel and
their deliverance, and especially at the very time of
keeping the Passover to commemorate that event, they
were themselves taking the place of Egypt, and ful-
filling all that is written of Egypt and of Pharaoh.
It was at the Passover, when our Lord, as on this day ^
beheld Jerusalem and wept over it, because the time of
their visitation was passed, and the things that belonged
unto their peace were hidden from their eyes. They

' Preached <» Palm Sanday.

PHABAOH. 115

bad taken tbe place of the enemy of G-od, and that
under great aggravations, but they knew it not. From
this instance we see what may be the case with a
Christian Church or nation, that before they are aware
of it they may be falling under that delusion and hard-
ness of heart which we see has taken place in others.
It wiU not therefore be safe to put away the case from
ns, but we must consider how far it may describe
Gbd's dealings with ourselves.

Bat our object in the history of Pharaoh is as it
applies and is intended to apply to individuals ; it is
indeed the counterpart and strong description of those
that are tried, are borne long with, fall back after
many relentings and imperfect repentances, and at
last perish. It holds up to view in a striking historic
picture what commonly takes place with the human soul,
as it is expressed in that saying of Solomon : '^ He,
that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall
suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy*."

Now there is signal mercy shown to Pharaoh ; the
sin of Egypt had come to the full ; the account begins,
like that of the Jews when Christ was bom, in the
slaying of infants under a former king ; and under this
present Pharaoh the same system is carried on by
oppression and heavy bondage, spoken of as the very
" furnace " of affliction, " the iron furnace ;" but God
was long-suffering and gracious to him ; He sent him
first demands and expostulations, and then warnings ;
and these signal and repeated, and more and more mani-
fest and awakening ; and these judgments too with-
drawn, and then repeated after vain repentings and fresh
aggravations of sin and cruelty. Now some would sup-

* Prov. xxix. 1,

i2

116 FHABAOH.

pose that Pharaoh represents the evil spirit; but it is not
at all so ; it is rather a wicked man, or the world at en-
mity with God ; this is shown by his many repentings, of
which there are none with evil spirits. The case may be
compared with that of Judas ; of him it was distinctly
foretold that he should do as he did, and come to that
evil end ; yet nothing can exceed our Lord's continued
expostulations with him, miracles wrought before him,
warnings and prophecies. And it is to be noticed that
in the same place where our Lord speaks of Jerusalem
as having the things belonging to their peace hidden
from them, He alludes to His own very earnest deal-
ings with them in calling them to repentance, " How
often would I have gathered thy children together as
a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, but ye
would not." He had for three years interceded for
the tree, dug about it, and laboured in vain, before
His word withered up the barren fig tree. Yet not-
withstanding it had been written of them long before :
" Let their eyes be blinded, that they see not," " and
let them not come into Thy righteousness '."

But now, what are we to learn from this doctrine,
that God hardens the heart ? It is very true that man
hardens his own heart, because Scripture says so ; it
is also true that God hardens the heart, because
Scripture says so; yet further, it is true that this
latter is worthy of much attention, because Scripture
repeats it often. "With regard to others, this con-
sideration may teach us patience : with regard to our-
selves, dependence upon God. Patience to others
when we cannot amend them ; and dependence on
God in the keeping of our own heart. It is indeed of

» Ps. Ixix. 24. 27.

FHAZAOO. 117

aD leflflcms in tlie vorid toe s^jSS cot-Iziz ani ecu-
Btniniiig, the most indneadAl on the hearc. li An
accident or mnj iU happeiu Xty the body, lo the goods
or outward circnmaftanccg. the greatest of oomforEs is
to oonaider that it is God's dixng. to look on it as
fiia ; in like manner, when we feel or fear hardness^
deadneaa, coldness coming orer onr heart, a disinclina-
tion to religion, to know that God's hand is in it will
more ns to turn to Him with all fear and reverence, that
He may remove this plague from us, this '' plague of
the heart." To feel that we are in His hands for life
or death, is the most salutary state of mind that a
helpless creature can have ; to see His hand dealing
with us in judgment for past sins ; to look to Him to
lighten our eves, that we sleep not in death. In a
bodily disease we take all means, we watch, procure
medical aid, look to food, and the like ; all this is most
necessary; we do so when the sickness is probably
even unto death ; but at such season of bodily sickness
yet more needful is the constant remembrance that
all is in God*s hand, with Whom are the issues of life
and death. It is most needful that this should be
inculcated, impressed, brought home to us on such
outward trials, for, as the Prophet says, " shall there
be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it * ?"
But in the case of the soul, this sense of God is of
itself restoration and life. "Lord, I am in Thine
hands.'* "I am undone by Thy just judgment. My
eyes are blind, so that I cannot see, and that by Thy
just judgment ; for when I saw, I was as one that saw
not. My ears are dull of hearing, and that by Thy just
judgment: my knees are weak, I have no heart to

1 Amo8 ill. 6.

118 PHABAOH.

kneel, and this bj Thy just judgment. But oh, Thou
"Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, do Thou
create and make in me a new and contrite heart."
" O Lord, why hast Thou made us to err from Thy
ways, and hardened our heart from Thy fear '? " Oh,
what a powerful and pity-constraining prayer is this,
of all prayers the most appealing to God's compassion ;
it is like that of David, the most affecting of all in that
penitential Psalm, " Cast me not away from Thy
Presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. O
give me the comfort of Thy help again, and stablish
me with Thy free Spirit." And a still deeper sound is
there in that prayer, as of one over whom the pit were
about to close her mouth, " Out of the deep have I
called unto Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my prayer."

Now such are the wholesome apprehensions which
may be raised in the heart by a sense of this doc-
trine, as it respects ourselves ; if this of all punish-
ments is the greatest, to lose the sense and power of
good, and if this is God's doing, to whom shall we
turn, what else shall we do but to turn to Him?
" Of whom may we seek for succour but of Thee, O
Lord, "Who for our sins art justly displeased?" Look
then on your past or present life in this light ;
you have done this or that sin without remorse,
though perhaps it once was otherwise, and such things
would have troubled you : well then, this is hardness
of heart; but consider it is from God, that it is His
punishment on you. Or it may be you do not do
this or that which you might and ought to do, yet
you are not concerned ; now this unconcern is from
God, it is a sign of His displeasure. How awful, yet

> I8a.lxiii.i7.

PHASAOH. 119

how quickening is this reflection, it is always life and
a sign of life to see and acknowledge God's hand and
power. You cannot feel, you cannot amend, you
cannot change. You are bound by a chain — not im-
posed by another, but by your own iron will. And
that will is with the enemy of your soul, you
will what he wills. For from evil will arose evil
habit, and habit not resisted became necessity, and
necessity a second nature. You have undone your-
self. But reflect, the hand of God is also in this ; it
is He that hath given you over unto death ; and He,
yea—even He alone can order, even yet, that the
stone may be removed, and the grave clothes un-
loosed ; and that your dead and corrupting soul may
come forth from the grave. The very thought is
already like the quickening of His Spirit, and the
hearing of His voice.

Kow the reason why Pharaoh did not obey the
commands of God, and was not bettered by His
miracles, came upon him as a punishment from God ^.
Why do you not love prayer and the Holy Commu-
nion ? It is a punishment upon you from God, to
Him therefore turn that He may make you love what
is your life.

The ten plagues of Egypt seem to represent all the
variety of evils that come on us as warnings from
God ; from the flies, the little annoyances and petty
troubles of daUy life, to the diseases of cattle and loss
of the first-bom, its great calamities and bereave-
ments; from the thunder and lightning abroad and
the hail-storm to that which climbs up into our secret
chambers ; from public judgments to private and do-

> St. Aug. ill. 262].

120 .^HABAOH.

mestic griefs ; all of every kind are to recall us froni
sin ; for "trouble springs not out of the ground," it is
of God. Whether great or small, sudden or conti-
nuous, abroad or at home, it is of God : thus by little
and little does He put us in remembrance ; and for
the most part it may be observed as in these plagues of
Pharaoh, " Wherewithal a man sinneth, by the same
also shall he be punished *." With what a multitude
of troubles like as with the flies of Egypt has your
life been beset ? this should teach you to remember
with the good Mary that one thing only is needful.
Tour alienation from God has often been a " darkness
that may be felt;" what a motive should there be
from this judgment to consider the light and health
which is in the dwellings of the righteous — in the
heart which is at peace with God.

And if in the ten plagues are represented all the
chastisements of God, so in Pharaoh are set forth the
various shades and changes which there are in im-
penitence and unbelief. First of all there is rejection
of God, "Who is the Lord?" and " I know not the
Lord;" but he is not left, the witness of God is sent
to tell him who the Lord is. And Moses coming to
him so often, what is this but the many times in
which the voice of God meets us ? ten times, that is,
times out of number. But hardened by judgments,
hardened by miracles, hardened by mercies, hardened
by forgivenesses and forbearances of God, he brings
down upon himself wrath to the uttermost. Pirst of
all he rejects the knowledge of God, and he is taught
by miracles who the Lord is : and then when given
to know Him by His judgments and warnings, he

* Wisd. xi. 16.

FHABAOH. 121

tries eyerj subterfuge; first esteeming religion as
idleness and folly: "Te are idle; therefore say ye,
Let us serve the Lord ;" " Why do ye let the people
from their works?" then he calls in the magicians,
he seeks for some false semblance of religion; and
then he will do any thing short of what God requires ;
"Te may go, but not your women and children;" or
again, "Te need not go, ye may sacrifice in the
land ;" or, " I will let you go, only ye shall not go very
far away. Intreat for me." Or yet further, "Te
may indeed depart ;" but then recalling that permis-
sion. Such is a description of tha world at work in
the heart ; till he who began by saying, " Who is the
Lord ? I know Him not," shall know His power in
His chastisements; shall preach Him to others by
judgments brought on himself which he knows not in
a reprobate mind, that prison of darkness in which
walk the terrors of night, and in which no star is

Now if the ease were one where there was no
knowledge of God at all, no warnings, no reproofs, no
conscience, and appeals to it, then it would not come
home to us in a manner so marked as this of Fba-
raoh*s does ; for here is every thing done that can be
done ; long-suffering, admonitions beforehand, waiting
long, and again and again bearing and forbearing.
This it is which most strongly characterizes the cases
of God's hardening the heart : this it is which renders
it so awful and impressive. So was it in every case
where this hardening of God is spoken of; there are
especial means taken of expostulating, warning, and
the like. So was it with the old world, when God
said, " My Spirit shall not alway strive with man."
So was it with the Heathens whom St. Paul describes,

122 PHABAOH.

he speaks of conscience and the witness of God long
pleading with them, till he says, " As they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over
to a reprobate mind* ;" so was it with the sons of Eli,
of whom it is said, that '' they hearkened not unto
the voice of their father because the Lord would slay
them;'* so with Judas Iscariot; so was it with the
Jews, " Israel would not obey Me, so I gave them up
unto their own hearts' lusts. ... that My people
would have hearkened unto Me ; I should soon have
put down their enemies*." So will it be with the
falling away of the Church in the last days. So, alas,
is it with every Christian soul that is lost. It is when
God has done all, then it is that His taking away His
Holy Spirit is thus described; like a binding as it
were of hand and foot. As in the Parable it is said of
him that had not on the wedding garment — being
invited, called, admitted, honoured, made partaker of
the kingdom of grace — " bind him hand and foot," for
his members belonged to Christ, but have not
served Him; ''and cast him into outer darkness,"
for being a child of light he hath not walked in the
light.

* Rom. i. 28. ' Pa. IxXxi. 11—14.

SERMON XL

KORiH, DATHAN, AND ABIEAM.

Ndmbebs xvi. 23, 24.

" And the Lord spake nnto Moses, saying, Speak unto the con-
gregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."

The particular characters of these three men, Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram, are not given in Scripture ; but
they seem to represent generallj all those 'who rise up
against the powers ordained of God : Korah the Le«
vite against Aaron ; Dathan and Abiram of the tribe
of Seuben against Moses ; but both conspiracies being
combined together, indicates that it is the same temper
of mind which rejects the ordinances of God whether
it be in Church or State. Their signal destruction
marks the displeasure of God ^ ; it is sudden, extra-
ordinary, and overwhelming. By the "going down
alive into the pit," and the " fire coming out from the
Lord," it bears some resemblance to the end of Anti-
christ in the Eevelation, where the Beast and the
false Prophet are both " cast alive into a lake of fire'."

* See Prov. xxir. 22* * Rev. xix. 20.

124 KOBAH, DATHAX, JLSD ABISAM.

And indeed as Moses and Aaron set forth Christ as
our Lawgiver and High Priest, their rebellion, though
thej knew it not, was against the Anointed of God ;
and so far partakes of Antichrist. Their sin was like
that of the fallen angels who from envy, it is supposed,
arose against the Son of Q-od. They were indeed
strongly supported, they were no mean adventurers,
but themselves chief men, and with them were " two
hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in
the congregation, men of renown:" but the power
which they would establish was from below ; that of
Moses and Aaron was from above. It was the setting
forth of great worldly strength against the ordinance
of God. The description also is such as may repre-
sent the Christian people of God, for their words are,
" Seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of
them, and the Lord is among them : wherefore lift
ye up yourselves against the congregation of the
Lord?*' And Moses says to Korah, " Seemeth it a
small thing to you, that God hath brought you near
to Himself?" "and seek ye the Priesthood also?"
"We may add, " Seemeth it a small thing to have been
made members of Christ, 'kings and priests unto
God,' * a royal priesthood ? '" And this reference
to the Christian Church is confirmed by the Apostle
St. Jude, who, speaking of some in the latter days,
says, " Woe unto them, for they have perished in the
gainsaying of Core;" that is, they take part with
those who were thus condemned of God.

But let us consider how far the case is applicable to
ourselves now ; as it is in some degree peculiar ; for
Moses and Aaron had their authority all along con-
firmed of God by outward signs and miracles. Add
to which that their characters were such as less than

XOBAH, DATHAK, AKD ABIBAM. 125

any other to justify opposition or envy. For Moses
was the meekest of men ; and Aaron was inoffensive in
idi his conduct toward them. Their pre-eminence too
was in hardship and suffering rather than in wealth or
worldly power : in joumeyings in the wilderness, not
in the riches of Canaan. But these circumstances do
not in fact prevent the application to ourselves ; for
the Pharisees afterwards had no miracles to prove
their authority from God; and moreover they were
great oppressors and blind guides, covetous and cruel :
yet our Lord says of them, "The Scribes and the
Pharisees sit in Moses' seat : all therefore whatsoever
they bid you observe, that observe and do' ;" and this
He says at the very time when He is cautioning His
disciples against their wickedness. They had to obey
the ordinance of God, though it had neither outward
sign nor holiness to support it. And of the Priest-
hood St. Paul afterwards says, " "No man taketh this
honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as
was Aaron*." And if this was the case with the
rulers of Israel, much more with oiu* Lord's own
appointed Stewards and Ministers, of whom an early
Christian writer* says, that they sit in the seat, not
of Moses but of Christ. And indeed as if to mark
this more strongly, they were called, not Prophets,
nor Preachers, but Apostles, " the Sent " of God, the
Apostolic Church; sent with the words, "He that
despiseth you despiseth Me, and he that despiseth Me
despiseth Him that sent Me."

Nor indeed is the Presence of God denied by the
company of Korah as being vouchsafed to them under

» St. Matt xxiii. 2, 3. * Heb. v. 4.

* Origen.

126 KOSAH, 3A.TB.JlS, akd abibah.

the gaidance of Moses and Aaron, they say that " the
Lord is among them,'* as He was seen in the Pillar of
Pire and the Cloud, in the Holy Tabernacle, in the
Manna from Heaven: but what they complained of
was the want of visible fruits and enjoyments, '' Thou
hast not brought us into a land that floweth with
milk and honey;** "Wilt thou put out the eyes of
these men ? '* as men may say now, " "We see not our
tokens ;'* where are our spiritual privileges ? where is
the fulfilment of all the glorious things which the pro-
phets have spoken of the Christian Church P

But if this case is of universal application and for
general warning, then the question will arise, are
there no allowances, no limitations, to be made ; and
is there no relief in the case of oppressive Governors
and bad Pastors ? must all resistance be like that of
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, displeasing to Otod ? and
is it never without sin ? Let us consider this a little
more particularly. If such powers are of God, then
He gives such as are suitable to the people over
whom they are placed; not necessarily such as they
like, or such as are desirable in themselves, but such
as are good for them to have, and such as they de-
serve. For instance, the Eoraan Emperors during the
early days of Christianity, were many of them mon-
sters of cruelty and wickedness ; but when we come
to inquire into the character of the people over whom
they were placed, we find the corruption of morals so
deep and extensive, that they were as bad as the
tyrants that governed them. Such wickedness could
not exist without much suffering, either among them-
selves or from another set over them ; it required an
iron rod, and that the sword should not be borne in
vain : it was necessary to protect them from one an-

KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM. 127

other. And it was to these Eomans and living under
some of the worst of these Governors that St. Paul
says, "Let every one be subject unto the higher
powers. For there is no power but of God: the
powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever
therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance
of Qod •." And St. Peter unto Christians under the
same rule, " Submit yourselves to every ordinance of
man for the Lord's sake : whether it be to the king as
supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are
sent by him '."

Moreover, in consequence of this, we find in Scrip-
ture that kings andpeople are often together condemned
and visited alike. Pharaoh and Egypt both together
oppressed Israel ; both hardened their hearts ; both
were cut off together. Thus too throughout, both
Israel and Judah were visited through their kings.
The sins of Solomon and weakness of Eehoboam rent
the kingdom in twain ; but the visitation was from
Qt)d, for Israel valued not the ordinances of David ;
fiezekiah endeavoured in vain to bring them to re-
pentance, and then Manasses was sent, who filled
Jerusalem with blood; the reformation wrought by
Josiah was found unavailing, as the Prophets testify,
and then their succeeding kings were the means of
bringing Babylon upon Jerusalem. When the plague
came upon David and his people, it might appear from
one account that God was displeased with David, and
therefore he was tempted to number the people ; but
it is also evident that God was displeased with Israel,
and therefore Satan was allowed to tempt David to
that numbering. " The anger of the Lord,*' it is said,

• Rom. xiii. 1,2. M Pet. ii. 13, 14.

128 KOBAH, DATHAK, AKD ABIBAM.

" was kindled against Israel, and He moved David
against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah ^"
It was not merely that David sinned, and his people
suffered ; but that they sinned, and when God would
punish them, it was through the sin of David that this
punishment came upon them. Thus then it is with
evil rulers, they are not guiltless before God, but in
destroying themselves they serve also as a sword ' or
scourge in God's hand. Even as do evil spirits. If
thou sufferest, look for the cause in thyself, not in
another. Amend thyself, and God will remove what
thou fearest. Thus governors and those whom they
govern are bound up together, like parents and children ;
both suffer together, both for themselves and for each
other ; both have to intercede for each other ; and to
amend themselves, looking unto God in patience.

The same order of Divine Providence applies also to
spiritual Governors ; it is so with the Church of God
in all times and places ; the angels of the Churches,
and the Churches themselves are tended on, and in
each case addressed together as one by their Lord,
"Who has the seven stars in His hand, while He walks
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. "We
only need to look a little more home to ourselves, to
see the application of this law. It is now universally
seen and acknowledged, that the Pastors of the Church
in this country, of all degrees from the highest to the
lowest, have been very negligent of the sacred charge
committed to them ; something like an extraordinary
sleep seems to have been over them for about 150
years ; so much so, that the country has sent forth
her children to people new worlds, with no thought of

• 2 Siim. xxiv. 1. » Ps. xvii. 13.

KORAH, SATHAir, AND ABIRAM. 129

Bapplying them with the means of grace ; has possessed
hendf of Tast heathen countries, with no attempt on
the part of the Church and nation at large to make
them Christians ; no Bishop, no blessings of the Church ;
and at home a vast population increasing, and whole
towns grown up, with apparently no thought of any
spiritual care for them ; but all this while the laity
have not perceiyed it, because they have been no better
themselyes. The same dark cloud of forgetfulness
ooYered both Priest and people alike.

We may therefore, I say, consider it as a general
law of God*s Proridence, that their rulers both
spiritual and temporal will be such as the people are
worthy of; that if they need better rulers, the only
way in which this can be produced, efficiently and
effectiyely, is by becoming better themselves. As it is
contained in that saying of the Wise Man, *' What
manner of man the ruler of the city is, such are all
they that dwell therein.*' " The power of the earth is
in the hand of the Lord, and in due time He will set
over it one that is profitable *^.'* Now man cannot
overturn this rule of God's law ; he may change his
rulers as he will ; he may, as if he were in the place of
Qod, " put down one, and set up another," and thus,
by want of submission, the matter may be made
worse ; as doubtless it always will be by sin ; but it
cannot be amended, except by obedience, by man's own
obedience to God ; which obedience must be in the
keeping of His ordinances and laws. " In due time,"
says the son of Sirach, " He will set over it one that
is profitable ;" but it is " in due time ;" like all other
Providences of God, it requires waiting on the part ot

i« EccluB. X. 2. 4.

130 KOBAH, DATHAN, AND ABIBAM.

man. " Commit thy way unto the Lord, and He shall
bring it to pass." And as the Apostle adds in his
injunctions of obedience, "Wilt thou then not be
afraid of the power ? do that which is good." " Fop
be is the minister of God to thee for good '."

How did David suffer from Saul, yet all the while
patiently wait upon God for his deliverance, and would
not lift up his hand against the Lord's anointed ; the
life of Saul was precious in his eyes, in order that his
own life might be precious in the eyes of God '.

But a case of doubt and diflBculty which may arise
is this, if a signal repentance and renovation should
take place among the people, the spirit of grace and
supplication should be poured out upon them, and there
should be a general awakening ; then the deficiency of
their pastors and rulers will come before them in a
striking light ; and then will be their great temptation
to take the amendment of such things intp their own
hands. But yet not well nor wisely. Surely no refor-
mation can be equal to that which took place suddenly
and simultaneously, when the disciples of Christ were
yet under the Scribes and Pharisees, yet He said, as
they sat in Moses's seat they must be obeyed. Or again,
when the Apostles wrote to Christians, that they must
submit themselves to the powers that be, while those
powers were the most corrupt of heathen governments.
It is true that the change had not then become
extensive, or leavened the general state of society, but
the law of God's Providence was the same, for it was
the gradual progress of that change which would bring
over them in God's own good time their own true
Governors, such as were meet for them. And in the

1 Rum. xiii. 3, 4. '1 Sam. xxvi. 24.

KOBAH, DATHAN, AKD ABISAIC. 131

meanwhile those evil rulers formed a part of that
discipline of £uth by which they were perfected and
established, being puri6ed thereby as gold in the fire.

Moreover, it is observed, that the Church of God
has flourished more under Heathen than under its
ovm Christian rulers. This consideration may allay
our impatience ; we are at best so weak and frail, that
we need the iron rod more than the golden sceptre ;
in our present state the Cross is more suited for us
than the crown. In prosperity we lean on an arm of
flesh, and are weakened; in adversity we lean on
Gk>d, and are strengthened.

But then it may be said that there is a case far more
grievous than this, that of evil ministers in the Church
itself, whether it be of Chief Pastors, or of those in
their own nearer and subordinate sphere. These are
triak peculiarly heavy to a good man ; and there are
some cases which can only be considered as severe
visitations of God, and the scourge of sin. But if
Gt>d does not afford the power of remedying this great
evil, then the same law of patience must be applied.
In one ruler or pastor you may read God's wrath, in
another His love. *You cannot reject either; take
His wrath in meekness, and He may show jou His
love. And in the meanwhile, with regard to any par-
ticular case of great trial, we must practise forbear-
ance, and God will remember us in His own good
time. The case may be one peculiarly severe, and the
heart will often say, "How long?" Lord! how
long ? Am I always to forbear P But remember how
long our Lord bore patiently, yea, and even lovingly
too, even to the last with the false Apostle, Judas
Iscariot — and who art thou that dost complain ?

It will be often asked, but are there no excepted
K 2

132 KOBAH, DATJLLS, AITD ABIBAM.

cases to this rule of submission ? Some indeed will
always make an exception in their own case, for
"rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." But Holy
Scripture is all on the other side; it says, "submit
yourselves;" "be patient, brethren;" forbear — wait
upon God ; " let patience have her perfect work ;"
" a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of
great price." What if in reward for your patience
God Himself should come near to you, should Him-
self, in the failure of outward ordinances, " raise up
His power, and come among us, and with great might
succour us," being Himself the rest of the meek
spirit.

This duty of meekness and patience applies to a case
80 far as it is one we cannot remedy, like any evil or
scourge that comes to us from God's hand, we must take
it as our punishment from Him. But then it may be
said, when the case is one that implies grievous sin,
an example which dishonours God, corrupts Christ's
little ones, and poisons the fount of life, are we to
acquiesce in this ? Does not the love of God constrain
us not to resign ourselves to such evil— to lift up our
voice and cry — to move Heaven and earth ?

This is most true: for surely there is a remedy
with God. "When He has forbidden one way of
redress. He has pointed out another and a better.
For redress is required ; it is urgent, it is demanded
of us ; the burden is intolerable, it is one that ought
not to be endured, for it presses on our spiritual life,
on the means of our union with God. And this brings
us to the one practical point of the very greatest
urgency and need, most pressing on ourselves at this
time, more so than any thing else in the world can be,
Firat of all, that our Pastors may be multiplied, and

XOUAS^ SATHAK, AITD ABIRAM. 133

next that they may be sanctified, whether Bishops or
other Parochial Pastors. Our Lord has pointed out
the one and only way, and that is the way of Prayer.
He did not eren Himself send forth Apostles without
it. '' When He saw the multitudes, He w^as moved
with compassion on them, because they fainted, and
were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Then saith He unto His disciples. Pray ye the Lord
of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into
His harvest '." He prayed Himself on this occasion,
before He chose His Twelve Apostles, and continued,
it is said, the whole night in prayer *, So urgent was
the need. But He also on this point required their
prayers in conjunction with His own, " Pray ye, and
He will send." It depended then on themselves ;
and therefore our not having Bishops so many as we
need, or not having them to our mind, or we may say
to the mind of Christ, is a sin. Por it is certain from
our Lord's words, ** Ask, and ye shall have,** that if we
have not, it is because we have not asked. Try this
remedy first, and you will need no other until God wills.
It is a remedy which will make our own hearts most meet
to receive such a blessing from God. It may be that
we are not yet meet, but that if we pray we shall be ; it
may be that God is waiting to be thus gracious with
us, when we show that we have faith to profit by His
gift. It may be as with Cornelius and the first
sending of Apostles to the Gentiles ; the spirit of
prayer and almsdeeds prepared Cornelius for the gift ;
and St. Peter at the same time was by prayer prepared
for conveying it. Nothing is so marked in all the

* St. Matt. ix. 36. 38. * St. Luke vi. 12.

134 KOBAH, DATHAK, AND ABIBAM.

Oospels, as that lesson of God waiting until man asks.
Christ more than willing to give — but not giving unless
importuned in faith — but passing by. Thus it is
doubtless the case that the remedy is in our own hands
— not without God, not against God, as in the gain-
saying of Core, but with God ; it is in our power to
move God. If we are importunate. He will rise and
give us all that we need. It is indeed most needful —
the salvation of many depends upon it.

Many are cast down because the Church is in bonds.
It can neither appoint for itself suitable Pastors, nor
set aside evil Ministers, nor manage its own affairs,
and the government of it is falling into the hands of
its enemies. But these are not the great evils to be
feared ; the one great cause for apprehension is this,
whether in the body of the Church at large the spirit of
prayer is sufficiently strong to cast off all these impedi-
ments ; for where prayer is, all such evils from without
are thrown off, even as in the spring of the year nature
throws off all the chains of winter. The imprisoned
eagle may even yet soar aloft, and unfold her wing in
the free expanse of Heaven.

When the plague had broke forth on the company of
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, it was not stayed by human
means, nor by God Himself without human means, but
by Aaron hastening to stand with the incense between
the dead and the living ; what is meant by this, but
our great High Priest offering up His own prayers
and the prayers of His saints.

I have to add one more reflection— the Parable of the
importunate Widow, " That men ought always to pray,
and not to faint," seems to have an especial reference
to the widowed Church in the last days, '' when tho

KOBAH, DATHAK, AJSTD ABIBAH. 135

Son of Man cometh ;" where speaking of " His elect
which cry day and night unto Him," with the assur-
ance that "He will speedily avenge" their cause,
oar Lord alludes to the faith of His Church failing in
that importunity of prayer. But His promise to her
still remains the same, that she cannot pray to Him
in Yain« If she has not, it is because she prays not.

SERMON XII.

BALAAM.

NuMBEBS xxiii. 10.

*' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be
like his !"

Thesis words are familiar to us ; they express a desire
so holy, that it must often come home to the heart,
and may well be lodged deeply in the minds of us all.
They were spoken by the Prophet Balaam. Nor does
it appear to be an exclamation that he made once for
all, under a strong impulse or Divine inspiration, but
we find in him throughout sentiments of the same
character, worthy of a Prophet so esteemed. His
answer to the princes, on the second time of their
coming, was, " If Balak would give me his house full of
silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the
Lord my God, to do less or more." "What could better
express a firm determination to do right P And on
both occasions he would give no answer at all without
first consulting God. And when he came to Balak,
the king of Moab, how must all have been struck with
the holiness of the Prophet, so entirely was he not his
own, but under the hand of God. *' Lo, I am come

BALAAM. 187

unto thee : hare I now any power at all to say any
thing? the word that Ood putteth in my mouth,
that shall I speak." What more could any of us
aspire to than this? "If any man speak, let him
speak as the oracles of Ood," not his own words, but
the words of God. And what words did he speak !
what beauty and holiness is there in them ! There is
scarcely any thing to surpass them in aU the Prophets
of Israel. How does he describe the people of God ?
their goodliness and order as fairer than all things
among men, " as gardens by the river's side, as the
lign aloes which the Lord hath planted ;" the invinci-
ble power that is in them, and the happiness m death
of those whose strength is in the everlasting God.
But this is not aD, for it is given him to see the Savi-
our of the world, in Whom is aD the might and glory
of His people. " I shall see Him, but not now. . . .
There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre
shall rise out of Israel." So holy indeed were the
sentiments expressed by him, that the Prophet Micah
says, ''Bemember now what Balak, King of Moab,
consulted, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered.
That ye may know the righteousness of the Lord \"
And what is this righteousness P It is, as the same
Prophet goes on to explain, that which is truly good,
that the essence of religion consists not in costly burnt
offerings and sacrifices, but " in doing justly, and loving
mercy, and walking humbly with God."

The expression then of the text, with its devout
aspiration, was not a mere passing wish, but one
that might characterize much of the life and the say-
ings of Balaam. Great was his knowledge and keen

* Mic. vi. 5. 8.

188 BALAAM.

his sense of what was holy and good. His expressions
to God, and to the Angel that met him by the way are
almost like that of St. Paul, "Lord, w^hat wouldst
Thou have me to do ?" I am ready to go or to turn
back at Thy word. And yet, Oh ! the appalling per-
verseness of the human heart, this was all the while a
bad man, self-deceiving, self-deceived, who lived and
died in great wickedness ! So that his good words on
the high places seem like those of evil spirits, who
confessed Christ as the Holy One of God, and Son of
the Most High, when there was scarce a man on earth
who could have made such a declaration. For Balaam
is referred to through the New Testament as the
wicked Prophet, "who loved the wages of unrighteous-
ness." He knew what was holy and good, and it may
be that he loved it also, but he loved riches more ; his
knowledge was with God, his will was with Satan.

And now let us follow the course of his double
mind, and the ways of God's dealings with him.
When the messengers first came he asked of God, and
was told, " Thou shalt not go," " thou shalt not curse
the people, for they are blessed." But the second
time, when he makes that strong protestation, if Balak
should give him his house full of silver and gold, his
heart was already beginning to give way ; and if when
he went again to ask of God, he had put his real
thoughts into words, it would have been this, " though
the people, as Thou hast said, are blessed, yet more
honourable princes and greater rewards make me de-
sirous to comply with their wish, that I may gain for my-
self both profit and honour." His hesitating, his wish-
ing to ask God at all a second time was a sin. It was
like the Prophet of Judah listening to the old Prophet
of Samaria, who professed to bring another message

BALAAM. 189

from God. Second thoughts are often from the world,
while the first are from God. But although God is
displeased with him, yet He appears to go with him, and
to allow him to proceed in the crooked ways of his
GOTetousness. This is what we see in the ways of
God's Providence. It is not unusual with God to
gnuit, not only the desires of an holy and upright
mind, but also our desires for inferior things, when
the heart is set upon them in preference to Himself.
For instance, a man is on his guard against the
dangers of wealth and station ; but by degrees he
thinks whether he cannot obtain them lawfully, and
by and by he is engaged in the pursuit, and in such a
case God gives the man usually that for which he
eraTes. He seeks, he obtains ; God seems to say. Go
on. There is no greater danger than for God to
answer a man according to the desires of his own
heart ; and therefore Job says, " If thou prepare thine
heart, and stretch out thine hands towards Him ; if
iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away *." And in
Ezekiel God says, if a man comes to inquire of Him
with idols in his heart, and setting the stumbling-
block of his iniquity before his face. He will answer
him according to his idols, he will be taken in his own
heart. " If that prophet be deceived," it is added in
very remarkable words, "I the Lord have deceived
him, and I will punish him'."

But yet in this case God does not give us up alto-
gether. As when Israel asked for a king, He gave
indeed what they desired — but He expostulated. He
warned. He sent them a token of His displeasure. So
will He show us by His Providence that He is dis-

« Job xi. 14. « Ezek. xiv. 4, 6. 9.

140 BALAAM*

plea49ed with us ; in the way that we go, His angel
with the sword in his hand will meet us, i.e. some
calamity, some accident, some grief, is sure to cross
our way to remind us from God that the way that we
are going is not the way of holiness or of peace. And
these are all calls from God, not at all the less so because
when a man's eyes are blinded with worldly business
and covetousness, he does not see them to be such.
Balaam did not perceive the Angel, but the ass did ;
i.e. for the dullest natures in the world will see that
God is in such visitations, in such impediments, as rise
up before us, and stand in the way of temptation and
sin ; all will see except he who is blinded by his own
mind, that it is God Himself "Who says thereby, " I
went out to withstand thee, because thy way is per-
verse before Me." And then for awhile he humbles
himself, and offers to turn back ; in the moment of
alarm, from the depth of the heart, conscience will
speak the truth, and he says, " I have sinned ;" he
knows it, though he is as if he knew it not. But he
has leave still to proceed, as if in His dealings with us
God still said, " Go on in the way your heart has
chosen of riches and honour, but yet keep yourself
therein from sin ;" this is the way of Providence with
mankind. The man proceeds, and says to himself, " I
will be rich, but I will not sin against God ;*' and it is
possible with God*s grace that he might do so.

God is displeased because we love Him not as we
should do ; but still in His mercy He is ready to try
us still in a second and inferior course. He lets us
know that He is grieved, yet He bids us go on, as
ready even again to accept us. As Samuel said unto
the people, " Fear not ; ye have done all this wicked-
ness : yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but

BALAAM. 141

•erre the Lord with all your heart, and turn je not
aside*." And thus it is possible that the Prophet
e?en now might have proceeded without actual sin ;
it was, he might have thought, a great opportunity for
good ; he might speak the words of Ood, and bless them
whom He would bless ; he might be a witness of Gk>d.
But in all this there was One Who knew him better
than he knew his own heart, which was hiding its own
wickedness from itself. He wished to proceed toge-
ther with Gtod and Mammon ; God on his lips, and
Mammon in his heart. When he went to ask of Ood,
there was one prayer which he could not have made,
and that is, " Lead us not into temptation ;" when a
person puts himself in the way of temptation, he is
already more than half gone, and in the toils of Satan.
And when he allows such desires to mix with his
prayers, he pollutes the very fountain of his life.
" Come not to the Lord," says the Wise Man, " with a
double heart '." And One far greater says, " If thine
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light ;"
it is the double eye that makes the heart "full of
darkness," and Oh, " how great is that darkness ! " It
is for this reason that the Prophet says, " The heart is
deceitM above all things, and desperately wicked*."

And now he has come to the high places, and seeks
for enchantments in vain ; and Oh, how eloquent is he
on the beauty of holiness, on the strength of Gtod and
His people ! yet all the while his heart is set on the
reward, and he is secretly devising to keep God's in-
junctions and yet obtain his purpose with Balak. As
Easekiel says of the Jews, ''with their mouth they

* 1 Sam. xii. 20. » Ecclus. i 28.

• Jer. xviL 9.

142 BALAAM.

show much love, but their heart goeth after their
covetousness. And lo, thou art uato them as a very
lovely soDg of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can
play well on an instrument : they hear, but they do '
not '." After this his description of the goodly tents,
of the blessedness of the death of the righteous, of the
Star out of Jacob, after he had said that God had not
*' beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor seen perverseness in
Israel," and that therefore '^his Lord God is with
him," in the next chapter we read of the wrath of
God having broken forth against His people, the
plague among them, and a very great slaughter, on
account of the Midianitish women : and a little fur-
ther we find that all this was occasioned by the advice
of this wicked Prophet Balaam. For knowing that
nothing could overcome the children of Israel while
faithful to their God, that there was "no enchant-
ment against Jacob," instead of openly cursing them,
he advises Baiak to corrupt them by fornication and
idolatry, in order that thus God might go from them
and they might lose their great strength. " These,"
Midianitish women, it is said " caused the children of
Israel through the counsel of Balaam to commit tres-
pass against the Lord^." It is almost impossible to
conceive wickedness greater than this ; it is being one
with Satan, to cause God's people to sin in order that
God might leave them and they be destroyed, and all
this merely from his own avarice.

But we are not to suppose that Balaam now threw
off the mask and became openly a bad man ; it would
appear that he still kept up his self-deceit and dis-
simulation; as if what he was doing was but lawful

' Ezek. xxxiii. 31, 32. * Numb. xxxi. 16.

BALAAM. 143

and right ; bo that he not only led them into practices
of sin, but corrupted and perverted their principles
alsOy persuading them that they might thus hold >vith
Gk>d and jet with sin and the flesh. Thus he came,
like others after, *' with all deceivableness of unright-
eousness in them that perish." For he is spoken of
as having doctrines of wickedness. Thus Christ says
in the Bevelation to the Church in Pergamos " where
Satan dwelleth," "Thou hast there them that hold
the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a
stomblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat
things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication'."
And St. Peter describing those who have " gone astray,
following the way of Balaam," speaks of them as
" sporting with their own deceivings," " having eyes
fiill of adultery," and " an heart exercised with cove-
tous practices," " beguiling unstable souls."

But to return to the text : did Balaam after all die
the death of the righteous P No, death overtook him
in the midst of these evil courses. For thinking that
Gk)d's strength had now left His people, whom he
himself had succeeded in corrupting, he proceeds
together with Balak to fight against them ; but in the
meanwhile Gt)d had returned to Israel, having by the
plague and the sword cut off the evil, and made an
atonement for them, remembering His mercies in
Christ ; and thus Balaam, like Satan, was overreached
by God*s love to those that are in Christ. And now
the same chapter that reveals the wickedness of Ba-
laam mentions also his death : " They slew the kings
of Midian," it is said, " Balaam also the son of Beor
they slew with the sword*." ""With the sword!"
thus was the vision of the angel fulfilled, sent to warn

* Rev. iL 14. 1 Numb. xxxi. & IG,

144 BALAAM.

him with the drawn sword: so wonderfully in that
warning was there contained a mysterious intimation
of his end.

Now what are we to think of such a wonderful his-
tory and character as this ? Is it one that stands alone —
out of the ordinary course of men in their ways ? or is
it a case that is not uncommon P It is to he feared that
there is great danger of something of the kind wherever
the knowledge of God is. This self-deceit, or danger of
a douhle heart, is often alluded to in sayings and single
expressions throughout the Scriptures ; hut here it is
put forth at length in a narrative so striking, that it
cannot hut arrest the attention of all thoughtful per-
sons. There are, no doubt, cases of the kind around
us, those whose heart and life, if the veil were stripped
aside by the all-knowing Searcher of hearts, would
show a career no less awful and remarkable than this
of the Prophet Balaam ; but it is not my purpose to
dwell on such, God only knows them ; but rather on
thi8,7-the instances of the same sort of self-deceit
which any one of us by the aid of God's Holy Spirit,
and a watchful desire to know his own heart, may
detect in ourselves. It came forth so strongly when
our Lord was upon earth, that those He most de-
nounced, we may observe. He called "hypocrites."
In the light of His Presence, in the holiness of God,
it was this more than any thing else that appeared in
its true colours — "hypocrisy,** i.e. self-deceit : it con-
sisted in eyes blinded and a heart darkened by the
love of sin ; it was found in the most holy places ; it
stood in the temple in the most honoured place there ;
it sat highest in the synagogues, and had the first
room in assemblies ; it was very particular in keeping
the Sabbath, but without mercy and the love of God ;
it was very religious m outward washings^ but passed

BALAAM. 145

oyer that saying of the Psalmist, " I will wash my
bands in innocency, and so will I go to thine altar:"
it made long prayers^ without drawing near to God
with the heart ; it went up to the Passover before the
time in order to be purified, and to keep it aright,
while the thoughts were wholly occupied in a deter-
mination to shed innocent blood : it was so full of a
scrupulous conscience, that it would on no account
enter into the judgment-hall of the Gentile lest it
should be defiled ; but without scruple or hesitation
they could at the same time urge on people and a
heathen governor, from envy and hatred of goodness,
to crucify One they knew to be Innocent, the Holy
One, the Lamb of God ; and exult over His sufferings
in death. Now that hypocrisy which came forth so
strongly in Christ's Presence, and was so marked by
Him, we may conclude is not uncommon in all gene-
rations. His own disciples were the most simple-
minded of men, but He says to them, '^ Take heed of
the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy."

Perhaps we may conclude from Scripture, that this
self-deceit goes with covetousness more than with any
other crime ; thus we find that Judas Iscariot, though
so very wicked a man, deceived others so thoroughly,
that no suspicion against him ever rose in the minds
of the disciples with whom he was in the closest inter-
course ; he was probably deceiving himself as well as
them ; and this we find was the case with those Pha-
risees whose wickedness was so very great ; they were
as whited sepulchres, beautiful without, much esteemed
for holiness and wisdom, deceiving themselves as well
as others in a great degree ; their blindness of heart
was owing to covetousness and ambition. And hence
we may observe that the deceivableness of riches is so

146 BALAAM.

much spoken of; the necessity of an undirided heart
in approaching to God: we are warned against at-
tempting to serve both Qod and mammon. Thus to
take a better instance of this kind, in that Bich Young
Man who came running and kneeling to Christ ; what
could be more holy than his wish to know what he
might do to attain eternal life ? it was like the desire
of Balaam, that he might die the death of the right-
eous ; but he knew not himself^ till the great Searcher
of hearts made it known to him — that there was some-
thing in his heart which he loved more than eternal
life with Ood ; and that was this present life and its
advantages.

Oh, that we might with all sincerity come to God
with that prayer, "Try me, O Gk)d, and seek the
ground of my heart; prove me, and examine my
thoughts. Look well if there be any way of wicked-
ness in me ; and lead me in the way everlasting '."
Oh, that we might consider before it be too late, His
saying to us so often, in Scripture, in His Providence,
by His Spirit, " Keep thy heart with all diligence ; for
out of it are the issues of life *."

There must always be much reason to fear some-
thing of this self-deceit where persons have such holy
services and prayers as we have, as in the Psalms and
Collects of the Church, and especially in the Lord's
Prayer: to use such prayers we ought to be very
good ; and if we do not endeavour to be so there
must be something of this insincerity. The danger
besets us from our very childhood : children are taught
to use holy prayers; but if their conduct is not
watched by others and by themselves, they will come

' ?■• oxxxix. 23, 24. * Prov. iv. 23.

BALAAM. 147

to "use yam repetitions," by not attempting to do
what they pray for ; and thus they will get into a
habit of coming before God without singleness of
mind. There are, again, some whose worldly interest
and credit it is to appear good, as it was with Balaam,
with Judaa Iscariot, with the Scribes and Pharisees ;
it is so with all in some degree in a Christian country ;
this makes it necessary to be very strict with the
thoughts and intentions ; to bring before us continually
the eye of God and the eternal Judgment.

Balaam was deceiving himself, but when he saw the
Bword in the angel's hand, his heart told him aright,
'' I have sinned ;" and when at his death he saw, as it
were, at the last the angel and the sword, if there had
been time, his heart might again have said, " I have
Binned." My brethren, the hour is fast approaching
upon us all, when the veil shall drop from the eyes,
and every one shall know his own heart : it will be at
the sight of the Judgment, and of the angels, and of the
BWord that shall cut asunder the hypocrite*: then the
self-deceiving soul will know itself and say, '' I have
sinned ;" " I will turn back ;" but no, it is too late,
there is now no turning back.

« St. Matt xxiy. 51.

L 2

SERMON XIII.

JOSHUA.

Deut. xxxi. 23.

** And he gare Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be
strong and of a good courage : for thou shalt bring the children
of Israel into the land which I sware unto them : and I will be
with thee.'*

Joshua is represented to us as a warrior, one might
say as nothing else ; other soldiers in Scripture have
strongly marked characters of their own, as David, as
the Centurion in the Gospels, and Cornelius in the
Acts. But in Joshua the character of the man is
lost in the soldier. It is remarkable how repeatedly
it is said to him, " Be strong and of a good courage."
" Only be thou strong and very courageous ; be not
afraid.'* He was called upon for this courage ; it was
fulfilled in all his life ; and at his death he gives the
like injunction, saying to Israel, ''Be ye therefore
very courageous*."

But this in Joshua was a sacred courage, not that
of the world, but of God ; it was founded on faith.

1 Josh. xxiiL 6.

JOSHUA. 149

He was called upon to execute the purposes of God,
and the call was ever accompanied with the promise,
" I will be with thee ;" and in that promise he trusted.
It was always kept in view that his power was not in
himself but of GtoA ; as when he overcame Amalek, by
Moses interceding on the Mount * ; by the angel meet-
ing him when he entered Canaan, as *' the Captain of
the Lord's host ;" by the Sun and Moon obeying his
voice ; by the hailstones from Heaven, and the hornets
on earth ^ And when it is said indeed that he was also
" full of the spirit of wisdom," yet the reason is added,
because Moses had laid his hands upon him * as the
leader of his people.

Now the Church teaches us by her appointed
lessons for this season, that Joshua's taking possession
of the land of Canaan is the figure of our entering
into the promised kingdom on the descent of the
Holy Ghost. And we may observe that this character
of Joshua had a sort of fulfilment at the Day of Pen-
tecost, in the great "boldness of Peter and John,"
at which, it is said, the Jews " marvelled * ;" and in
St. Stephen, and in St. Paul afterwards.

But the courage of Joshua speaks of something far
more deep and extensive than this; as the Apostle
in explaining Joshua and Canaan as the true rest
to be found in Christ, adds, "Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy, and find grace to help *."

It is not then of boldness in battle that God would
teach us by Joshua, but it is altogether a figure of
something else, of a brave courage in Christ ; for " we

* Exod. xvii. » Josh. v. 13 ; x. 11. 13 ; xxiv. 12.

* Deut. xxxiv. 9. » Acts iv. 13. • Heb. iv. 16.

150 JOSHUA.

wrestle not against flesh and blood,'' but against
spiritual powers; our weapons are not carnal, but
mighty through God; our armour "on the right
hand and on the left," is the gifb of grace. The
Captain to whom we look hath the sword proceeding
out of His mouth, and " a vesture dipped in blood ;"
but the armies that follow on white horses have no
armour but the " righteousness of Saints," " clothed
in fine linen, white and clean '." " Not by might nor
by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts *."
At the note of the true Sabbath of God, — the trumpet
sound of the unarmed multitude of God — fall down
all the walls of the enemy. And who is she that
cometh forth from the accursed and doomed city, but
the mother of the true Joshua, who " in righteousness
doth make war," even the harlot Eahab, rich in faith,
with the scarlet token of Him who is known as " red
in His apparel," as "Mighty to save'." "Gather
together unto Me those that have made a covenant
with Me with sacrifice." He goeth forth with the
bow and the crown, "conquering and to conquer,"
for the destruction not of Jericho, but of that Jeru-
salem which slew His Apostles and Prophets, and is
now in bondage with her children ; but she that is set
free is of the " Jerusalem which is above, the mother
of us all." His army is clothed in righteousness, for
the warfare in which we are engaged is one in which
men are overcome, not by the sword of the enemy,
but by the accursed thing hid in the tent, the forbid-
den treasure, the secret thing against God. In this
war the powers of Heaven take part and fight for us ;

f Rev. xix. 14, 16. " Zech. iv. 6.

> Isa. Ixiii. 1; Rev. xix. 13.

JOSHUA. 151

for there ie " war in Heaven," and we partake in that
war and victory, for we are with Michael, i. e. ** Who
is as 6odP" Such is our Joshua, who hath taken
upon Him not the nature of angels, but the seed of
Abraham.

But as for all warfare the requisite is courage, so
Joshua represents in particular that courage of heart
which is a great ingredient in the ''faith that over-
cometh the world," and in that " perfect love " which
^' casteth out fear." Hence it is that Christian faith
is so often throughout the Scriptures, and especially in
the Psalms, armed with sword and shield, and clothed
in circumstance of war, and speaks in terms of battle
and victory. Such courage was the peculiar gifb of
the early Church, which is the going forth of the true
Joshua ; courage to give away all ; courage to rejoice
in tribulation ; courage to take Christ at His word ;
and therefore it went forth on the white horse tri-
umphant ; courageous to trust, and in that trust
mighty to conquer. Whereas that "faintness" of
heart foretold of the Jew * is fulfilled in the weak
Christian of the latter days, little of mind. In this
warfare woe to the " fearful," for he shall have his
lot with the unbelieving'. Woe to him that saith,
''There is no hope;" to the faint-hearted who hath
"lost patience:" " to the sinner that goeth two
ways :" to him that is " afraid of a man that shall
die, and forgetteth the Lord his Maker*."

Such then is to us the history and character of
Joshua. It signifies that we who are entered into
the privileges of the Gospel, must overcome every

> Lev. xxvi. 36. « Rev. xxi. 8.

* Isa. li. 12.

152 JOSHUA.

enemy to our full possession, every sin, every tempta-
tion; that we are in Christ called to this end: we
are taught by Joshua of the necessity of faith in
the eternal inheritance G-od has promised ; in our
power of obtaining it; in 6od*s assurance that He
will be with us ; in sparing no hindrance to our rest
in that kingdom ; in allowing no bosom sin to escape
and live. " The Lord your (Jod," says Joshua, " is He
that fighteth for you as He hath promised you. Take
heed therefore to yourselves that ye love the Lord
your God*." This is the standing still of the Sun
and Moon : of strong walls falling down by miracle ;
of removing mountains. The history of Joshua sets
before us that one great lesson of the Gospels, viz.
the power we have in Christ by faith. " All things
are possible to him that believeth."

To enforce this the more he be$irs the very name
of God our Saviour ; the type of Christ, not in His
Priesthood as Melchizedek ; not in His kingdom as
David; not in dying as Abel; not as the history
of Joseph ; or as the character of Moses ; not in His
death-passion as Hezekiah; not in life-long sorrows
as Jeremiah ; but in Joshua it is of victory. As our
Lord Himself says, " Be of good cheer, I have over-
come the world." And as St. John testifies to the
same, " Who is he that overcometh the world but he
that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ^." And
St. Paul, " I can do all things through Christ that
strengtheneth me."

Now we observed that the characteristic of Joshua
is a soldier's courage ; other qualities are lost in this ;
his character is in a manner colourless, like the form

^ Josh, xxiii. 10, U. ' St. Juhn v. d.

josHrA. 153

of a statue rather than of a painting ; like one sent
from God, and bearing the name of God. " Behold, I
send an angel before thee," says God, " to bring thee
into the place which I have prepared. Beware of
him; — for My name is in him*." Who is this
angel, says Sb. Augustine, in whom the name of
God is but Joshua'; that is, "the true Jesus, the
ruler and guide of His people into the inheritance of
eternal life ? " For it is not, he says, from the begin-
ning of his life, but from this the change of his name
that he becomes the leader of God's people.

The true Sabbath, the true Canaan, the true Joshua
are, says the Epistle to the Hebrews, with us. We
may observe that Joshua was with Moses in the
Mount ", and Christ was in the Law, but Moses de-
parted and Joshua remained ; the Law departed, but
"grace and truth came by Jesus Christ'." Jesus
remains. On the Mount of Transfiguration, when the
kingdom of the regeneration had come, Peter would have
made three tabernacles, one for Moses, and one for Elias,
and one for Christ ; but Moses and Elias, though they
partook for a while of His glory, had gone, and when
they looked around there was " no man, save Jesus
only," and the voice from Heaven said, " Hear ye Him."
Moses and Elias, the Law and the Prophets, bear witness
to Him, and in so doing partake of His glory ; but they
depart and He remains. It is Jesus clothed with
the glory of the Besurrection ready to lead us in
alone. The Eather bears witness to Him in the
Voice, and the Spirit also in the Cloud, and then they

• Exod. xxiii. 20, 21. ^ St. Aug. viii. 471.

• Exod. xxiv. 13. » St. John i. 17.

154 JOSHUA.

are seen and heard no more; but in, and through,
and by Him.

Thus St. Paul also in recounting that noble army
of Patriarchs, Saints, and Martyrs, as partaking of
His glory and seen as a cloud of witnesses, ends all
by bidding us to fix our eyes on Him only ; " look-
ing," He says, the word means in the original, looking
aside from all other things, " unto Jesus the Author,"
or as in the Greek, the Captain, " and Finisher," or,
as the word is sometimes rendered, the Arbiter and
Eewarder, " of our faith ." This therefore is the Joshua
to whom we look, who speaks of power and of victory
in God, and of nothing in man, but faith to take hold
of that victory and power ; in whose transparent cha-
racter we see nothing but the Captain of our Salva-
tion, inasmuch as man is lost in God.

It is then as St. Paul says, " Henceforth know we
no man after the flesh ; yea, though we have known
Christ after the flesh, yet now know we Him no
more*." And of himself "I live, yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me." Hence Joshua speaks not of
human virtue and affection, but of power; not of
man's disposition, but of victory in God. And what
is this but of God in Jesus Christ P The one lesson
therefore is that in all, and beyond all His Saints, we
are to look to Jesus, remembering that He is God as
well as man ,— that it is altogether difierent to that of
looking to the example of any man — on account of
His Godhead, His Atonement, the gift of His Spirit ;
we look to Him and have power, we have power by
looking ; nay, by looking, as the Apostle says, we '' are

> 2 Cor. V. 16.

JOSHUA. L55

changed into the same Image even as by the Spirit
of the Lord."

His example indeed seems in some sense to set us
afar off; for He is all perfection, we full of imperfec-
tions. He is at such an infinite distance that we
cannot approach Him. But the name of Joshua
brings us near ; for by that we know He has power to
put His own mind into us, and to make us like Him-
self. And the reason of this is, because we can never
look to Him merely as our Example, without remem-
bering at the same time that He is in manifold
ways unspeakably more. It is when we believe in
Him as our God, that His example itself becomes
profitable to us in a way perfectly different from any
example of good men.

We are to " look to Jesus," because He is our God ;
to be "perfect" as "He is perfect;" "to be made
like unto Him." Our ground of confidence in the
Day of Judgment is, " because as He is, so are we
in this world." Now all this is because He has
enabled us of His power to do so. Oh, the wonderful
Mystery of our great Exemplar ! As man He sets us
afar off by His infinite perfections ; but as God and
Man, by setting us afar He brings us near ; by His
Godhead He gives us power to approach and a will to
do so. In following Him we are ever at an immea-
surable distance; but, strange to speak, while He
makes us to feel ourselves so far from Him, He brings us
so intimately near as to be made one with Him by His
infinite power and Godhead. He invites us to follow
Him, and by inviting He draws ; He commands, and
by His commanding gives power to do. And all this
is in the name of Joshua, or "the Lord the Saviour."
His Name is a tower of strength ; and therefore in this

15G JOSHUA.

His Name is all our courage. For this His Name
casteth out devils and all power of the enemy ; this
His Name is " the bundle of myrrh " on the breast, heal-
ing and restoring under every woe. His " Name," it
is said, " is as ointment poured forth '." And what is
this ointment but the anointing of the Holy One ?
The Law came by Moses, and is written in the lives of
the Saints ; but grace to perform and truth to enlighten
is by Jesus Christ, "Who leadeth into the kingdom.
Our true inheritance, the rest of the meek, is in Him.

We '* look to Jesus " as our Example because He is
so infinitely more ; He is not only the Way, but the
Life also ; He not only shows the truth, but gives us
eyes to see it. As we look to Him our souls are
cleansed, and we gain sight to behold Him more and
more as He is, because He to Whom we look is Him-
self the true Light that lighteth every one.

Yet, further : — Our Joshua to whom we look is not
only our wisdom. He is also our strength, as He Him-
self said, " He that abideth in Me, the same bringeth
forth much fruit," and "Without Me ye can do
nothing." So important is this great truth, that our
victory over the world depends entirely on our rightly
receiving it ; for " this is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith *," our faith in Christ as God.
Thus the example of our Joshua is different from the
example of all His Saints, because of His Godhead.
Powerful is the world around us, powerful is our
own evil nature, and very powerful is the enemy of
our souls to our destruction ; and against these our
own strength is but weakness, even as the chaff before
the wind, or the leaf in the torrent. But mightier

' Song of Sol. i. 3, 4. * 1 St. John y. 4.

JOSHUA. 167

than all these is the strength of Christ, and we are
strong by His strength when we endeavour to be like
Him. By meekness, and mercy, and suffering, He
overcame the world ; and we in these things shall be
strong in His strength, and partake in His victory,
while by faith we look to Him.

Again, our Joshua is not only Light and Strength, but
He is Love, He is Love Itself, in that He is God, for
" &od is Love." How do men imitate and delight in
following one whom they love ; they are conformed
and changed, they know not how, by looking to one
whom they love ; his thoughts become their thoughts,
his likings and dislikings theirs, his opinions theirs.
For him they endure hardship, nor do they know any
greater joy than in enduring hardship for his sake.
Oh, how sweet and constraining is this power of love !
And if it be so of earthly love, how much more of
heavenly ? If of man and in man, how much more of
Gk)d ? If love has power to create love, and we are
inclined to love those who love us, how much more
when we love God because He hath loved us ? When
He Who is Love, and hath implanted in our nature
love for each other, fills our hearts with the love of
Himself— gives us to partake of love as we partake of
God.

This then is our Joshua, our courage, our victory ;
it is in this, the saving Name. Then it is that His
Atonement works in us — then the wounded man is
able to arise, and is strengthened for his journey ; the
Oil and Wine, the Spirit of God and the Blood of Christ,
are poured into his wounds, and he has a strength
which is not his own ; to be sensible of his weakness
becomes his strength; to know his sickness is his
health.

158 JOSHUA.

Again, not only is He Whom we follow infinite
Love, and hj His Spirit works in us love also, but He
sets before us Himself as the only object worthy of
our love ; which can fill and satisfy all the desires of
our hearts, in that He is our Orod ; Whom to love is
the only end of our being ; Whom to love is life. It
is He Himself Who is seen by us enduring as Man all
human suffering— our God in pain, in contempt, in
sorrow ; and all this for our sakes, and written that
we may know it, that we may meditate on every part
and see therein our Orod ; and in every part remember
ourselves also, beholding our own deservings in His
burden. We see it all in our God, that humbling and
bating ourselves, we may long in Him to be hidden,
that we may lose ourselves and be found in God.

Such then is the adorable pattern set before us in
our Joshua ; He all light, we all darkness ; He infinite
strength, and we great weakness ; He perfect holiness,
and we full of sin and infirmity ; that the more we
contemplate Him the more conscious we may be of
our own demerits. But in that He is God our Savi-
our, how may we notwithstanding rejoice in His good-
ness and be bold in His greatness, in that He may be
in us and we in Him. And so far as this is so, well
may we consider all the exhortations so repeated to
Joshua as addressed to ourselves. *' Be strong and of
good courage, be not afraid,*' it is " the Lord your
God that fighteth for you ; take good heed therefore
that ye love the Lord your God.** "All things
are yours, whether life, or death, or things present, or
things to come ; all are yours ; and ye are Christ's ;
and Christ is God's V

* 1 Cor. iU. 21—23.

JOSHUA. 159

It is Thou, O &od and Saviour, that leadest us
into our true inheritance ! In Thee alone, O Jesus,
shall we find rest and peace ! and no rest in Thee till
every enemy which is in our old nature be overcome.
But Thou art Almighty ; in Thee is victory ; Thou
hast said unto my soul, " I am thy salvation :" " My
grace is sufficient for thee." While we contend with
Amalek our Advocate intercedeth for us ; the Sun and
Moon are yet waiting their going down, and our
life is yet prolonged, that we may overcome before
the night shall have overtaken us. " The stars in their
courses fight for us," and we must have no peace till
we are ''more than conquerors through Him that
loved us."

SERMON XIV.

SAMSON.

Judges xiii. 24.

'^ And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson ; and
the child grew, and the Lord blessed him/'

"We have seen in Joshua the great power we have in
Jesus Christ to overcome every enemy and obtain
perfect peace. And so it was with the early Christians ;
before them fell down all the strongholds of the
enemy : but with us it is far otherwise. As with the
Israelites after the death of Joshua, their enemies pre-
vailed, and continued with them as ''snares," as
''scourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes \"
Yet God was so merciful, that, under the pressure of
the evils which these brought, '' He thought upon His
covenant," and heard their prayers ; " When they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble He delivered them out
of their distress '." He sent from time to time, when
they cried unto Him, deliverers to their aid ; such
were Barak, Gideon, Samson, and others. Thus it is

1 Josh. xxiiL 13. * Ps. cri. 42—44 ; evil. 11-13.

SAMSON. 161

with us; our temptations, through the world, the
flesh, and the devil, press us often sore. We have not
overcome them with Joshua ; when oppressed we call
to God, are comforted and strengthened and, may be,
overcome our enemies, though it be but for a time.
The history of Israel, therefore, under the Judges, has
a peculiar reference to the Church in the day of its
weakness and* the decay of faith.

But here arises the question, as these Deliverers
raised of God were not blameless characters, how far
they are intended to be examples for us to follow.
And in this, as in explaining other parts of the Old
Testament, we must remember the Apostle's words,
"the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life,*' and
endeavour to ascertain under the letter the mind of
the Spirit.

When St. Paul recounts the Saints of God, which
by faith obtained a good report, he mentions " Gedeon,
and Barak, and Samson." The history of Samson
therefore is for our example. Tet in what ? For he
loved strange women, the daughters of the uncircum-
cised Philistine, so forbidden of God, nay, more, the
harlot of Gaza; he was ensnared and entrapped by
them, and died in their snares. "No mention of repent-
ance—no apparent consciousness of sin. As Solomon
was gifted with wisdom, so was Samson with bodily
strength ; both for the Church of God ; but it may be
in neither for their own salvation ; even as in the mira^
culous gifts of the early Church, when there might
be faith such as to remove mountains, yet without
charity, which alone faileth not ; as they who at last
will in Christ's Name have "done many wonderful
works," but are not known of Him.

These Saints are set before us by St. Paul — but for

m:

162 SAMSOK.

what purpose ? Not altogether as the objects of our
imitation, but as witnesses of the power of faith ; that
we may look not to them, but rather off and from
them, to Him of whose power they testify. " Where-
fore seeing," he adds, " we are compassed about," not
by examples, but " with so great a cloud of witnesses,"
let us look, he says, not to them, but to " the Author
and Finisher of our faith." It is therefore of the
power of this faith in Him that they bear witness to
us ; but if we have this faith it will be shown in over-
coming, not wild beasts, but him who as a roaring lion
walketh about seeking whom he may devour ; not in
rooting out Philistines, but besetting sins ; accepting
Christ as our Pattern in all love and obedience. To
us the example of Christ is manifested ; the " bundle
of myrrh " is laid open ; the alabaster box is broken,
and the perfume is abroad; faith in Gtod implies
Christ Crucified written on our hearts and lives by the
linger of God ; with them of old faith did not imply
this ; they knew of the power of God, and divined
something of His goodness ; but Christ's love was not
spread out before them, with the " new law " of life.
With the faith of Samson we shall have the power of
Samson, not to destroy enemies, but to save them ;
and in death to overcome not them but ourselves.

Let us therefore endeavour so to take this remark-
able history, that from thence may be derived meat
for the souFs health, and out of the strong may come
forth the sweetness of wisdom. Our consideration is
particularly drawn to Samson, by the solemn circum-
stances which preceded his birth ; they seem to say to
us, " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground." Prepare thy-
self for some great manifestation of God's power and

SA.MSON. 163

goodness, such as He will vouchsafe to all ages, when
His people have undone themselves, and yet are at
any time willing in their captivity and distress to look
to Him "Whom they have forgotten. For the account
begins by saying that " the children of Israel had done
evil,** and the Lord had in consequence " delivered
them into the hand of the Philistines forty years."
Well might they ask where is our Joshua, and the vic-
tory, and the kingdom, and the power ? It was then
that the Angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of
Manoah, promising that to her, though barren, a
child beyond nature should be given of God; but
requiring the strict dedication of herself from that
time, and of her son from his birth, as a Nazarite to
God — one set apart and separate by a strict consecra-
tion, to Himself. And as God is wont in Holy Scrip-
ture to repeat by a second admonition, or a second
vision and manifestation, what He has strongly pur-
posed for great ends ; so at the prayer of Manoah this
Angel again appears with circumstances fully detailed
to arrest attention. They asked his name, but he told
them not, for it was Secret; clothed with a divine
terror was his countenance, and great the mystery
of his appearance ; he would not eat of the kid, but
when it was offered in sacrifice to God he ascended on
the flame ; and they fell on their faces to the ground,
and said, " We shall surely die, because we have seen
God." And so indeed they would have died had they
seen God otherwise than in Christ; but it was in
Christ they beheld Him. And Manoah's wife said to
her husband, " If the Lord were pleased to kill us, He
would not have received a burnt offering at our hands."
Thus then it was that Samson was wonderfully bom,
and as a child blessed of God, and moved by His
H 2

16^! SAMSOX.

Spirit, and made the instrument of His power, made
to be as we may say of him as seen in Christ, "a light
to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people
Israel."

Yet further, we must consider in Samson the pecu-
liarity of his gifts. Of Joshua we read that by the
hands of Moses he was filled with the Spirit of wisdom
for his great leadership ; but this was not the case
with Samson ; he was moved by the Spirit to great
miracles of strength, but there was no wisdom to guide
a nation, or indeed his own steps. Though in bodily
power more than a man, he seems to have been like a
child in understanding ; and certainly with this there
was much of the beauty of a childlike disposition, as
in his constant reference to his parents, even in man-
hood. There was something childlike in that reserve
which accompanies inspirations of Grod and the strong
feelings of childhood, when he slew the lion, and after-
wards took the honey from it ; neither of which things
he mentioned, it is said, even to his father or his
mother, to whom yet he so looked up as a child. There
is something childlike in not mentioning what greatly
moves us. There is, moreover, something childlike in
his great exploits:— as in carrying away the gates of
Gaza to the hill of Hebron ; in his device of destroy-
ing the corn with the foxes and the firebrands ; in his
slaying the thousand men with the jawbone ; in the
young lion that roared at him, which he slew as a kid ;
in eating the honey as he went ; in the riddles, too,
and the bonds. There is a childlike grandeur and
sublimity in these wonderful works of God. To those
who quailed before the giant sons of Anak, God showed
by Samson with what weak instruments He could
work such deeds of prowess, while one who had in

SAiiSOK. 165

himself the power of great armies, yet was as a child
in his parents' hands, looking to them ; and as a weak
man in the hands of a woman. And in what was his
great strength ? not in himself, not in power of limb
or arm — but hung in the air of his head, as if to
show how slight the gift.

What therefore are we to learn from Samson ? His
history of such romantic interest is no doubt in order
to exhibit in a most lively manner the power of
faith. There is something wild and sublime, and, at
the same time, most simple and attractive in all that is
recorded of him for this end ; his life is all supernatu-
ral : unarmed with spear or shield, but armed of God,
like David afterwards, in faith he stands alone as the
great saviour of his people ', or one whom God was will-
ing to make so if they would but look to him. The very
wildness and strangeness of his life but corresponded
with that purpose of God, as to show what God was
willing to do, but did not, on account of their unbe-
lief. His course, wild and irregular as it might seem
to be, is spoken of, in a singular degree, as under
the influences of the Spirit " Who alone worketh great
marvels." To this may be attributed much in
explaining the conduct of Samson, for God can
dispense with His own appointments. It is said on
the first mention of him as a child, "And the
Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in
the camp of Dan ;" and when he slew the lion, " And
the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and
he rent him as he would have rent a kid." In
like manner afterwards when he slew the thirty ; and
also when he brake his bonds and slew a thousand

* Neh.ix..27.

166 SAMSOK.

men, it is said, "And the Spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon him*." These expressions raise his
history into that which is quite beyond daily life.

And to this something may be attributed in explain-
ing the conduct of Samson, of things which may have
been done under a prophetic and Divine impulsion
instigating or controulling him. Thus it is said
that his parents " knew not it was of the Lord,"
that he took a wife of the Philistines. This expres-
sion indeed might signify as it is said in another
place, " it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that
He might destroy them*;" implying that it was an
evil permitted of God. Yet, in this case, it might
have been an action, not evil but directed of God,
who, for the carrying out of the great ends of His
Providence, may suspend His own laws of separation
between Israelite and Philistine; and like as when
Hosea was commanded to take " a wife of whoredom,"
that it was with some mystery and allegorical mean-
ing under the instigation of God. For beside the
immediate object it might have this further meaning,
that it represented Christ our Deliverer taking His
Church from among the Gentiles ; and to the disobe-
dient Israelites of that generation it might have im-
plied that this their course of disobedience would lead
to that consummation, the rejection of themselves, and
the Gentiles being chosen in their stead. And indeed
it is very evident, when the men of Judah after-
wards bound Samson, and then delivered him bound
into the hands of the Philistines, that this represented
the Jews giving up Christ bound unto the Gentiles.

Yet at the same time to Samson himself those

* Judg. xiv. 19 ; xv. 14. * Josh. xi. 20.

BAMSOK. 167

things might have had their own lesson of instruction
jGrom the evils they brought upon him. Thus at last in
his blindness and sore bondage, the loss of bodily
sight might seem a fit punishment for the want of
wisdom to guide the ways of his life ; darkness and
chains in the midst of enemies, and the round of toil-
some labour at the mill might, as St. Gregory has
observed, represent the blindness and toilsome bond-
age of Satan's service •. His victory in death, mys-
terious and significant as it was, yet by his death accom-
panying that victory may indicate the punishment of
a life that had not been without blame.

But Ood forsook him not, — and though he may not
have acted well or wisely, yet may we not hope that
the blessing which he had at the beginning when on
the first mention of him as a child, it is said, '* the
Lord blessed him,'' returned to him at the last again ?
and that the self-sacrifice of his life, hallowed to ex-
cellent mysteries and granted to his prayer, in that
mighty deed of heroic martyrdom was accepted ? As
He "Whose name was " "Wonderful %" appeared to his
father, Manoah, and " did wonderously, as Manoah
and his wife looked on," and ascended to Heaven
on the flame from off the altar that " went up toward
Heaven;" so we may hope it was with Samson in the
end, and that at his death from that altar of sacrifice
he ascended to God. Such a view indeed is to him
charitable ; to ourselves profitable ; and most suitable
to one of that army of martyrs who " through faith
wrought righteousness, stopped the mouths of lions,
out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
fight, tiu'ned to flight the armies of the aliens." For

• St. Greg. In Job. ' Judg. xiii. 18, mar^n, reading.

168 SAJCBOK.

"these all," it is added, ''obtained a good report
through faith."

Moreover, many things in the history of Samson
are, as in other Saints of Ood, sanctified to us as
figures and types of Him on Whom shall rest '' the
Spirit of ghostly might," even of our Saviour Him-
self, appearing as v^eak in our weakness, tied by the
bonds of our infirmities. Who among His own coun-
trymen " did not many mighty works because of their
unbelief; of Whom it may be said now as it
was of old, "O the hope of Israel, the Saviour
thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest Thou be as
a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that
turneth aside to tarry for a night ? Why shouldest
Thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that
cannot save ? Yet Thou, O Lord, art in the midst
of us, an4 we are called by Thy Name^" Thus even
in his discomfitures and failures Samson speaks to us
of One Who should always be in our mind. And
some points in his life may be dwelt upon more parti-
cularly as containing such spiritual instruction.

The first deed of prowess in his life seems to anti-
cipate the end. For our Lord is Himself called the
Lion of Judah — and of Him came forth in death the
life and food of His people ; even that Word of life
which is sweeter to the soul than honey and the
honeycomb. From death "the eater" that devoureth
all things hath come forth meat, even He who hath
said, " My flesh is meat indeed." Wait awhile, and the
multitude of the nations have gathered like a swarm
in that death, and from thence derive life. But of
that lion and its death, strange to say, Samson spake

» St. Matt. xiii. 68. » Jer. xiv. 8, 9.

SAMSoir. 169

not, it is added, to his father or his mother. And
still more strange of the honey, thence afterwards
ensuing, Samson, it is said, told not his father or his
mother. For thus was the death of Christ a mystery
and a secret, and so were all the consolations thence
derived, which Israel knew not, and could not under-
stand. Nay, it was as a "riddle" for a long time —
" to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks
foolishness,'' — imparted only to and through her, who
was taken to be the Church of God from the defiled
nations of heathenism \

But more particularly in the death of Samson do
we see our Lord and Saviour, when bound and set at
naught, and blindfolded, and beaten in the hands of
His enemies. He willingly gave up His life, and by
His death overcame all the power of the enemy, and
more than by His life subdued all the kingdoms of
darkness. And a fulfilment of this there may be again,
when the sun of this world shall go down, and
the walls of the universe shall shake and fall. He
says in the Psalms, " The earth is weak and all the
inhabitants thereof, I bear up the pillars of it." But
a time shall come when the faith shall fail and love
shall wax cold, and He who is the great Deliverer of
His people shall be in darkness and in bonds ; then
when they shall say, " peace and all things are safe,"
the Strong Man shall awake, and suddenly there shall
be a cry, — the earth is departing, the pillars of Heaven
are shaken, and the Day is come.

In two points of view, therefore, is the example of
Samson most profitable to us, first, in showing us the
marvellous power of faith ; and, secondly, in represent-

" 1 Judg. xiv. 12. 17.

170 BAMSOK.

ing to us the great object of our faith, eyen Christ
Himself, — the mysteries of His kingdom, His calling of
the Gentiles, His victory in death itself; the weak
instruments by which He will overcome the world;
the childlike spirit of those that are strong in Christ
as opposed to the wisdom and prudence of the world.
It is, I am sure, thus that we are to read the characters
of the Holy Scriptures, if the good Spirit will be
pleased to interpret them unto us aright ; and this to
a childlike temper, which looks to Him in prayer. He
assuredly will do.

But to return to what we first said of Samson, as
the type of our strength irregular and broken in these
latter days ; when we spoke, on Sunday last, of Joshua
it seemed afar off, too high and heavenly ; for Joshua
spoke of Christ when the Church was in her " first
love," when a bow was in His hand, to overcome, and
a crown was given unto Him to reward, and He went
forth on the white horse of triumph, " conquering, and
to conquer*." You cannot then, you think, over-
come as Joshua, but yet you may as Samson ; you
have not gone forth victorious, but yielded, and are
beset with manifold temptations, yet you may call to
God in your affliction ; and the lion that meets you by
the way may through feith be overcome with ease ;
and yield you afterwards the sweetness of divine
consolation ; though father and mother know not of
it, those nearest you in the fiesh may not know of
your struggle, nor of your conquest, nor of your
spiritual comforts thence derived. Yet you may have
in yourself the power of Christ risen, and in that
strength you may yet go on your way ', and do great

' Rev. vi. 2. ' Judg. xiv. 9.

8AMS0K. 171

tilings. It may be that the Church of God is fallen
upon evil days ; no Joshua with the spirit of wisdom
to lead, and direct, and conquer ; but in Christ you
may yet have power to work in faith even great mar-
vels. " Thou shalt shew us wonderful things in Thy
righteousness, O God of our Salvation."

Yet one word more in conclusion ; the strength of
Samson was in his hair, that which could least of all
have any thing to do with means of strength; in
order to show that his power was all of God ; those
unshorn locks were signs of his being a Nazarite, dedi-
cated to God even before his birth ; there was a power
from that dedication which lasted all his life. " There
hath not come a razor upon mine head ; for I have been
a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb ; if I
be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I
shall become weak, and be like any other man."
Thus with us our power is from our dedication to
God at Baptism ; water, the weakest of all things,
could have nothing to do of itself with spiritual
strength ; but God has so appointed it as a sign and
means ; when we become defiled with sin, then is our
strength gone from us; but after deep repentance
and humiliation it may again return, and we at length
may be so recovered, that when the last great trial
comes we may in death prevail; — the strong man
be cast out of his place by One Stronger than he ;
and in and through Christ " death be swallowed up in
victory."

SERMON XY.

SAMUEL.

1 Samuel i. 20.

" She bare a son, and called bis name Samuel, saying, Because I
bave asked him of the Lord.''

Samuel was the man of intercession ; he might be
called in more senses than one the child of prayer,
even from his birth throughout unto the end. He
was given as a child to his mother's prayers, and
received his name from that circumstance, " the asked
of God ;" and his whole life was in harmony with this
his name, for he was always as one asking of God.

We have seen lately how the circumstances which
preceded the birth of Samson were significant and
prophetic of his after-life ; the same is remarkably the
case with Samuel also. In the Scriptural account of
the one there is the angel appearing to Manoah and
his wife, with a "countenance very terrible," and
" doing wonderously :" in that of the other we see a
woman in very earnest prayer ; and with circumstances
which give a solemn and divine character to that
prayer ; in the place of worship at Shiloh ; with Eli

SAMUEL. 173

the Priest on his throne, " by the posif of the temple
of the Lord," noting the earnestness of that prayer,
and receiving it with his blessing; "Go in peace;"
he says to Hannah, "and the God of Israel grant
thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him." To
which it is further added of both the parents, " And
they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped
before the Lord." Samuel also like Samson was to
be a Nazarite ; but Samson was so dedicated from the
announcement of the angel ; Samuel from his mother's
vow in her prayer. Thus one spoke of the wonder-
working God; the other of the signal prayer, the
priest, the temple ; and the prayer recorded, and the
vow accepted of the Most High ; and the name given
on the fulfilment of the prayer. And then follows
the solemn offering up of the child, and his mother's
words to Eli. " I am the woman that stood by thee
here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed ;
and the Lord hath given me my petition which I
asked of Him. Therefore also I have lent him to the
Lord, as long as he liveth." And then to crown all is
Hannah's memorable song of thanksgiving.

And the beginnings of life with the two Nazarites
were in accordance with their birth ; of Samson it is
said, he grew as a child, blessed of God, "and the
Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the
camp of Dan." But Samuel we behold in the "House
of Prayer;" clothed in the sacred garment of prayer ;
"he worshipped the Lord there," it is added; he
"ministered before the Lord, being a child girded
with a linen ephod." Such then was the institution
of the child of Prayer ; nor is this of itself a small
matter, or one of little account with God and the
Great Ones that are with Him, for the angels who see

174 SAMUEL.

His face, watch over such little ones ; and we know
on Palm Sunday what the voice of acceptance was —
"the children crying in the Temple, and saying,
Hosannah to the Son of David ;" — and the Lord of
the Temple Himself acknowledging it as the most
acceptable worship, and saying, " Tea, have ye never
read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou
hast perfected praise ' ?"

But the next circumstance in the history itself will
tell us what the child of prayer is with God; for
when about to bring in great changes and to sub-
stitute the New Priesthood in place of the old, not to
Eli, the aged Priest, nor to any who might be great
before men in station and authority does God reveal
His judgments, but communicates the heavy tidings to
the child in the Temple. The occasion may have
part in our Lord's great thanksgiving, when He
rejoiced in spirit and said, " I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes!" And how full of interest is the
whole narrative; Samuel, the thrice called of God,
the thrice chosen, thrice loved ; as if, like as in the case
of St. Peter afterwards, that repeated invocation of
his name were a token of great things that were to be
by him hereafter. And with what ready childlike
obedience is the call heard ! it was indeed receiving
the kingdom of God as a little child. And we may
notice the modesty of nature which there is about the
child of prayer, he is as a child throughout in bearing
this vision of God ; he rises from sleep, he hastens to
his Priest and Guide; and after all he lays down

> St. Matt. xxi. 16.

SAMUEL. 175

again in peace and quiet. How different to Saul,
when it was said, " Is Saul also among the Pro-
phets ?" he " lay down naked all that day and all that
night'," he was as it were not himself; but in Samuel
the holier yision of God does not overturn, but sanc-
tifies nature, humbles, quiets. There is nothing
constrained, nothing unsuitable : for divine love
'' vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not be-
have itself unseemly :" — nor again willingly divulges
what it receives from God ; such is the natural sim-
plicity of the child of prayer.

And what is the next thing we read of Samuel?
that God would "let none of his words fall to the
groimd :" his words partook of his communion with
Gk)d. Now this is very important in those who are
given to prayer : their words become after their degree
and in a manner full of God ; so that not with keen
intellect, or learned education, or forcible eloquence,
but with the man of prayer wisdom is to be found.

But this spirit of prayer in Samuel is but as yet as
the " tree planted by the water side," replenished with
the dews from above, and by the sun drawn upward
towards Heaven ; it has yet to spread forth branches
laden with flowers and iruits, beautiful to behold and
full of fragrance ; " like a palm tree in En-gaddi, and
as a rose plant in Jericho." For prayer is drinking
into the soul the love of God; and thence in due
season it shows itself in love to man ; it embraces
all around with tender sympathies, stretching forth
branches of pleasant savour; "the mother of fair
love, and knowledge, and holy hope'."

And thus we find that Samuel was reared for public

> 1 Sam. xix. 24. ' Ecclus. xxlv. 14. 18.

176 SAMUEL.

station, for times of great difficulty, and humanly
speaking attended 'with much disappointment, but
hallowed by his prayers and intercessions. Such
is that event which the history next mentions, that
"the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts
which dwelleth between the cherubims*," was brought
from Shiloh to be the strength of Israel in battle, but
was taken by the Philistines. Now to the holy child
from Bamah, ministering in Shiloh, and brought up
apart in communion with God ; who had no earthly
home but the House of God, no hope in religion
but connected with the visible ark of God's Presence,
what greater calamity could have occurred ? And what
then did Samuel? it is said, ^^ Samuel spake to all the
house of Israel, saying. If ye do return unto the Lord
with all your hearts, and prepare your hearts unto the
Lord; — He will deliver you." He speaks as with
mithority, as if inspired to do so in answer to prayer,
for ** God suffered not his words to fall to the
ground;" to this it is added, "and Samuel said.
Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you
unto the Lord." And such confidence was there in
his prayers, that afterwards when the terror of the
Philistines was upon them it is added, " And the chil-
dren of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto
the Lord our God for us." And so powerful was his
prayer, that as if he had been a warrior or an armed
host or far more, it is added, " So the Philistines were
subdued, — and the hand of the Lord was against
them all the days of Samuel." So availing is the
intercession of a righteous man; so full of healing
and expiation that sacred ordinance of God ; and so

* 1 Sam. iv. 4.

SAMUEL. 177

great the strength of one that had by habitual prayer
made himself strong in God.

From this his tender regard for his people, as
a father for his children, arises the next affliction of
Samuel, on the signs of their unbelief in God in asking
for a king; and here again is immediately specified
the same never-failing remedy for his sorrow. " But
the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a
king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord."
And what does he then do with their murmurings
and obstinate opposition ? Did he tell it to his friends,
or refer to counsellors for advice? No. "And
Samuel," it is said, "heard all the words of the
people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the
LordV

And after he has made them a king, the account of
Samuel's dealings with them is very beautiful: he
seems by prayer, like Elijah afterwards, to hold as it
were the elements — the thunder and the rain — in his
hands, and this power he uses not to afflict them, or
punish, but to warn ; indeed his unfailing sympathies
and great gentleness, and their confidence in his
prayers, form the interesting and very soothing part
of the history of those days and that hard people.
So much so that he comes out strongly, as representing
our Blessed Saviour Himself, standing a mediator
between God and man with such a tender feeling for
their infirmities. He expostulates — warns, yet at the
same time comforts and encourages them, and they
look to him. " And all the people said unto Samuel,
Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God." . . .
" And Samuel said unto the people, Pear not ; but

* 1 Sam, viii. 6. 21.

178 SAMUEL.

serve the Lord with all your heart, for the Lord
will not forsake His people." And then are these
striking words, " Moreover, as for me, God forbid that
I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for
you *." Here he shows that he held these continual in-
tercessions for them so much as a part of his own duty,
that to omit them would be a sin in him ; that not only
love to them, but duty to God was in his prayers.

And now in the history there awaits him a fresh
occasion of sorrow; and it is met again by him in
the same way, as if saying, "Is there not balm in
Gilead for every wound ? " "Is there any thing too
hard for the Lord?" "Then came the word of the
Lord unto Samuel, saying. It repenteth me that I
have set up Saul to be king ; for he is turned back
from following Me." ..." And it grieved Samuel,
and he cried unto the Lord all that night ^."
' In all these things there is in Samuel especially to
be noticed, as always connected with the spirit of
prayer, his great hopefulness : his readiness to hope
the best even of those who are in sin ; hoping even
against hope; and no doubt having his prayers an-
swered in some way, even in seeming disappoint-
ments, while he continued in the full confidence and
assurance of prayer. Such hopefulness often brings
about the very fulfilment of its most sanguine desires.

Further, a proof of this tender sympathizing spirit
of the good Samuel, and the estimation in which he
was held as a Protector and Divine shield, may be
seen in the conduct of Saul towards him ; the sad king
clings as it were to the skirt of his mantle for refuge
from his own evil self, and the evil spirits that haunted

« 1 Sara. xii. 1.0. 23. M Sam. xv. 11.

SAMUEL. 179

him ; and even after Samuel's death, in his great dis-
tress, he still looks to and longs for Samuel. Through-
out the compassions and parent-like pitjr of Samuel
seem to have had an impression on his proud heart.
He asks him not for his prayers, but clings to his
protection, as if in Samuel himself resided the power
of sheltering him.

And how affecting is that description of Samuel,
when he " came no more to see Saul, until the day of
his death ;" that he " mourned for Saul," praying for him
in secret, though he saw him no more, and continuing
long to do so, till God said to him, " How long wilt
thou mourn for Saul ?" and told him that there was
another answer to his prayers, in the man after God's
own heart, not in Saul.

Such then was Samuel, so remarkable above all men
for prayer, that the Psalmist singles him out as the
chief among those that pray; "Moses and Aaron
among His priests, and Samuel among such as call
upon His Name*." And the Prophet Jeremiah
places him with Moses as the two prevailing inter-
cessors ; " Then said the Lord unto me. Though Moses
and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not
be toward this people •." They seem both here men-
tioned for the singular love they bore for the people
over whom they were placed. Moses so earnestly
interceded with God, that he was ready to die for
them, " If Thou wilt forgive their sin ; and if not, blot
me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book **." And in like
manner, his people were ever in the heart of Samuel,
as the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate of judg-

• Ps.xcix.(i. 9 Jer. XV. 1.

" Exod. xx\ii. 33.

N 2

180 SAMUEL.

ment, with the names of the children of Israel on the
breast of the High Priest when he stood before God \
His mind seems ever to have been as in those his words,
" But God forbid that I should cease to pray for you."
" For my love they are my adversaries : but I give
myself unto prayer *."

Now there occur two observations which may be
made on this interesting history of Samuel. First,
that they were the troubles and sorrows of life which
were the moving causes of his prayers ; so that indeed
the child of prayer could not have existed without
them. So was it with his mother Hannah before his
birth ; we first read of the sore provocation with which
she was tried, and how keenly her mind felt the trial.
" She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the
Lord, and wept sore." "She continued praying
before the Lord." She said to Eli, " I am a woman of
a sorrowful spirit." " Out of the abundance of my
complaint and grief have I spoken." Here we see
that had it not been for this distress and sorrow, this
prayer of faith would not have been made, nor would
the child of prayer have been so bom and named.
And as was the birth of Samuel, so also was his life,
nurtured as it were and sustained by drops from his
Master's cup, and crumbs from His table of sorrow.
We have observed many occasions in which Samuel is
spoken of as praying and interceding, and now every
one of these was on account of some urgent distress
and trouble ; so that, as we read of his mother, she
was " in bitterness of soul and prayed," so of Samuel,
that "the thing displeased Samuel, and he prayed
unto the Lord." And again, " And it grieved

» Exod. xxviii. 29. * Ps. cix. 4.

SAMUEL. , 181

Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all night." O
blessed rod of affliction, when it thus turns the soul
to Heaven and unites it to God ! As the young bird
when alarmed flies unto its parent's wing, so in trouble
does the soul which He hath made % unto God. It
is said that " man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly
upward ;" and we may well see the reason for this, for
it may be added, that as the sparks fly upward, so in
trouble do the desires of a good man ascend to
Heaven.

Samuel's life was all affliction. As a child he was
taken from home and parents, removed from the
tender love of a mother ; these were early trials that
weaned the heart. Then the priestly guardian of his
childhood was overwhelmed in ruin and misery.
Samuel was unhappy in his children, in the people
whom he had to govern, in the king of his anointing,
so that over all these he had continually to mourn.
Yet he was pre-eminently blessed of God, brought as
it were near to His throne, which is the well of life
and joy, there to intercede, not for himself, but for
others ; and this being brought near to God was
through his prayers, and these prayers could not have
been were it not for these occasions of sorrow. Every
one became to him a step higher in that life which is
with God. There are leaves and plants which give
out their sweetness when pressed, bruised, and broken ;
so the soul under the pressure of misfortune yields
her healing power and intercedes for others. It may
be that Samuel's life was not marked with afflictions
more than others, but we see in him the effect of such
afflictions, as he was so much given to prayer. We
see what God intends by them, and why the saints of
God are usually more chastened than others, inasmuch

182 BAMT7EL.

as upon tbem such chastisements are not lost, but
productive of much fruit. To those who will reflect
on such things in their own hearts and lives, nothing
will be found so wonderful as the dealings of God with
the human soul, more so than all the marvels of nature
and Providence in the world at large. We may yet
further observe, that as trouble disposes the heart to
prayer, so on the contrary every joy of the world,
success, gain, any passion, or excitement, or self-indul-
gence, has its effect in withdrawing the heart from
communion with God. However trivial it may be, it
has this effect in its degree. It may be that we are
pleased, and are at ease, and the day passes, passes on
to eternity, there to be numbered with our appointed
time. Or it may be we are vexed, saddened, dark-
ened; and in consequence our comfort has been in
prayer ; and our prayers have been more real and
earnest, and have been as wings strong enough to bear
our heart and treasure to be with God.

The second observation I am about to make is this,
that our having in various ways connexion with others
becomes the continual occasion of intercession and
prayer. It was his care for others, his charge whom
he loved, whether the nation or the king, his deep and
lively interest for those of whom he had the charge,
whether Eli, or Israel, or Saul, which kept up in
Samuel the spirit of prayer. His life of prayer was
not in isolation or in contemplation, but an active,
laborious life, as Priest at the altar, as Judge of
Israel, and Prophet of God. All is for others — none
for himself. As our Lord prayed on many occasions
of establishing His kingdom, — before He called the
Twelve, before He sent out the Seventy, before the
conftssion of St. Peter, before His Transfiguration,

SAICITSL. 183

before the Sermon on the Mount, and before giving
the Lord's Prayer ; so He has made in us our many
responsibilities for others to be the constraining occa-
sions of prayer. Prayer increases both love of God
and love of man. Our family cares and interests, our
sorrows and anxieties for dependents, children, and
friends, these, it is, which bring us to lay aside such our
troubles with Christ. Mary who had chosen the good
part sat at Jesus' feet, but His eye and His heart is
with Martha also, and by the many troubles of " much
serving " He would bring her to be there also ; and if
this be not enough, by the sick bed and the dying of
her brother Lazarus, He will even yet bring her to
His feet, and she shall there confess, " Tea, Lord, I
believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God,
which should come into the world *." Now this saving
faith is much brought about by anxieties and inter-
cessions for others. Oh, what a sight it would be if
the veil were uplifted, and we were to see all that is
done by prayer !

» St. John xi. 27.

SERMON XYI.

SAFL.

1 Samuel xvi. 14.

** But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil
spirit from the Lord troubled him."

The striking characters of Holy Scripture are set
before us in conjunction with others, with whom they
are most strongly seen by comparison or by contrast.
Thus with Samuel the man of prayer, with David the
man after God's own heart, with his son Jonathan, so
lovely yet so truly great, comes to us the unhappy
Saul. Thus we see in those that fall away, what they
might have been if they had so willed ; and how the
grace of God hath moulded others to be as the stars
that shine for ever. Saul might have prayed like
Samuel, might have waited upon God as David did,
might have loved with largenessof heart like Jonathan.
We see, especially in the history of Saul, the awful
progress of the soul, from the gradual changes that
take place in him, while in his successive trials evil
prevails over the Spirit of grace and opportunities of
good. There is also a sort of natural goodness about

SAUL. 185

him that rivets our interest ; so that from the very
feeling of a common nature, we are partly inclined to
forget his crimes in his miseries.

Saul had every thing which the natural man could
desire. Gifted in mind and body, — " See ye him," said
Samuel, " whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is
none like him.*' He was " a choice young man, and a
goodly: and there was* not among the children of
Israel a goodlier person than he ; from his shoulders
and upward he was higher than any of the people ^"
The Spirit of God moreover was given him to fit
him for his kingdom at that anointing. And the
anointing was to him " the oil of gladness ;" for the
Prophet himself delighted in him ; and God turned the
hearts of the people towards him, so that, on the day
of his institution, "Saul,*' it is said, "and all the
people rejoiced greatly." The pride of the people —
the chosen of God— and having in him qualities that
even endeared him throughout to the wisest and
best of men ; but more than this, for even in those
things in which he afterwards fell — disobedience and
pride of heart, — he has at first the testimony of God
for good ; for the Lord says to Samuel, " Saul is turned
back from following Me;" he had therefore once
followed obediently the guidance of God. And Samuel
says to him, " When thou wast little in thine own
sight*;" so that he once was humble of mind. But
now he rejoices in himself, not in God; and there
arises in him that self-elation which goes before a fall ;
" the beginning of pride is when one departeth from
God;" "for pride is the beginning of sin'." The

1 1 Sam. X. 23 ; ix. 2. » 1 Sam. xv. 11. 17.

» Ecelus. x. 12, 13.

186 SAUL.

trial whicH comes does not occasion this self-confidence
and rising of the heart against God, but brings out
and proves that which was in the soul.

At .the time of anointing him king, Samuel gave
him the injunction to go down before him to Gilgal,
and there to wait seven days till he himself
should come to offer the sacrifices and burnt ofter-
ings. This, though he knew it not, was to be the
proof of Saul's faith; this would show whether he
trusted in himself or in God, whether he could wait
for God and upon God. What appeared an accidental
urgency of circumstances was wisely calculated for
this probation. The case seemed pressing; the ap-
pointed time just transpiring ; the people were scat-
tered; the Philistines were coming on; what could
be more religious than Saul's anxiety at such a time
for supplication and for sacrifice ? Thus, as the Jews
afterwards, he deceived himself with religion ; but the
heart and life of religion, faith, was wanting ; for what
was the use of supplication and sacrifice ? were they
not to obtain God's assistance ? but could not God
assist without them ? '' Stand still and see the salva-
tion of the Lord*," was the very pledge of deliverance
given by Moses at the Eed Sea. Thus Saul becomes
a sign of the taking away of the kingdom from Israel.
It is the opposite to the obedience of the Son of God.
" Sacrifice and meat-offering Thou wouldest not ; but
Mine ears hast Thou opened." " Lo, I come to do
Thy will, O God!" "Tea, Thy law is within My
heart." "Thou hast done foolishly," said Samuel,
" thou hast not kept the commanduient of the Lord
thy God. Thy kingdom shall not continue ; the Lord

* Exod. xiv. 13.

BAn. 187

hath sought Him a man after His own heart/' even
him whose saying is, " I waited patiently for the Lord."
"My soul, wait thou still," i.e. calm and patient,
" upon God."

"Woe unto them that have lost patience*."
" Patient abiding," " possessing the soul in patience,"
"patient waiting for the Lord," are ever spoken of as
the part of acceptable faith in the last days; when
they that fall away shall say in their heart, as Saul did
of Samuel, the prophet of God, " My Lord delayeth
His coming."

Thus was he weighed in the balance and found
wanting. As with Uzziah, that other king who
invaded the Priest's office*, the secret leprosy of sin
rose up to his forehead, and the subtle contagion of
that pride filled all his body and clave to him to the
last.

Then comes the second trial, when Samuel reminds
him of his anointing, and sends him utterly to destroy
Amalek ; but Saul again is more merciful than the all-
merciful God, more religious than the holy Samuel.
He spares Agag, and he saves the best of the spoil to
offer sacrifice to God ; thus he blinds himself in his
disobedience with a show of clemency and religion.
" And Samuel said. Hath the Lord as great delight in
burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice
of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice."
Por obedience is the sacrifice of the soul itself to God,
which is better than that of slain beasts; it is the
offering up of the will itself. And here we may
observe, as in the case of Ahab and Benhadad, the
great anger of God with those who spare whom He

' Ecclus. ii. 14. 8 2 Chron. xxvi. 16. 19.

188 SAUL.

would not spare, and His approval of those who execute
His judgments, as Phineas, Joshua, and Jehu, warning
us not to forget His judgments in His mercies.

But the state of Saul's heart appears still more
strongly in his shadow of repentance than in his sin
itself. He confesses, " I have sinned ;" but this con-
fession is not accompanied with humiliation before
G-od, and in consequence a willingness to be humbled
before men ; on the contrary, he seeks his own honour,
not that of God, with this confession on his lips. " I
have sinned, yet honour me, I pray thee, before the
elders of my people, and turn again with me, that I
may worship the Lord.'* Here we have the very spirit
of the Pharisees, loving the praise of man more than
the praise of God, and of the rejected Israel when the
Gt)spel was preached. Even in the worship of God
Saul seeks his own honour ; whereas David in doing
service to God says, " I will yet be more vile than
this; and will be base in mine own sight ^." David
said, "I have sinned against the Lord;" and Nathan
answered, " The Lord also hath put away thy sin®."
Saul says, " I have sinned ;" but " Samuel," it is
added, '' came no more to see Saul until the day of his
death ;" "and it repented the Lord that He had made
Saul king over Israel."

Prom this commences a new phase in the history, as
deeply impressive, as sadly affecting as any thing can
be — the downward course of a man who hath departed
from God in his heart. " Lo, this is the man that
took not God for his strength ;" yet for a while " I
have seen him in great power, and flourishing like a
green bay-tree." But now, in the awful words of the

' 2 Sam. vi. 22. « 2 Sam. xii. 13.

SAUL. 189

text, "The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul,
and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." And
it is the harp of David that soothes the unhappy king.
What a strange and solemn history; how divinely
beautiful that harp; with what touching sweetness
must it have lingered on the ears of the king, as it
awakened for a time all the wisdom of his earlier life,
and the promise of his youth ! It must have been
like a lost spirit listening to angelic strains in Heaven
before its gates were closed against him for ever.
" He was refreshed," it is added, " and was well, and
the evil spirit departed from him." And yet more, he
" greatly loved David " the minstrel. Here we have
all the natural goodness of Saul, which renders his
fall so awful and affecting. "What great virtues had
he shown had his heart been but right with God. He
had been generous to his enemies, who had refused alle-
giance to him ' ; he had been heroic-minded, yielding
up his son Jonathan to die *. David's pathetic lamen-
tation over him at his death shows that Saul was no
ordinary character, to have engaged such love and kept
it throughout. It required a voice from God Himself
to awaken Samuel from his grief for one so loved and
honoured ; the kiss of love he had glvea at hia maomir
ing ' continued in Samuel's affection to the end. And
the " mountains of Gilboa " bore witness to the rare
affection of a father and son, as " lovely in their lives,"
and "in their death not divided \"

And now the " evil spirit from the Lord " troubles
him, and though driven away for a time, finds access
into his heart, and brings with him all malice and

» 1 Sam. xi. 13. » I Sam. xiv. 44.

« 1 Sam. X. 1, » 2 Sam. i. 23.

7

190 SAUL.

misery. He had disobeyed God, obeying the people ;
he had listened to the people's voice, not to that of
Q-od ; and therefore when another is in the praise of
the people the evil spirit hath with envy filled his
heart. " The women answered one another as they
played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and
David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth,
and the saying displeased him.'* "And Saul eyed
David from that day and forward." David had been
his aid in need ; had subdued for him the Philistines ;
had comforted him from the evil spirit ; but his love
is turned into hate ; the fire of Hell is kindled in his
bosom, and makes visible the darkness of that heart
wherein once was the light of Q-od's countenance.
Lo, he has become as Cain to Abel, " because his own
works were evil and his brother's righteous." He
becomes the type of him that is bom after the flesh,
and persecuteth him that is born after the Spirit.

Again and again he attempts to slay him: more
than once by his own hand; and by means of his
messengers ; and through the Philistines. But all in
vain, for he is fighting against God. And now all
things around him that should have been otherwise
his delight and glory, are turned to gall and worm-
wood, the poison of his soul. All his friends around
him are hateful to him because they love one whom
Otod loves. " All of you," he says, " have conspired
against me." " There is none of you that is sorry
for me." Doubtless all were grieved for him, but
none could heal that malady which was in his own
soul. Who can give peace to him who is not at peace
with God ? All the love which there is around him
but adds to his own envy and misery ; and that which
charity would have made his delight and joy, has

SAUL. 191

now become food for the never-dying worm which is
in his bosom. God Himself hath set His love on the
man after His own heart ; Israel and Judah love him ;
his own daughter loves him ; and his own son above all ;
and the priests of God favour him ; and the conse-
quence of this is, that Saul in all his prosperity is
more distressed than Job in all his afflictions. Pos-
sessing all things, yet having nothing ; while David in
single-hearted faith is as having, nothing, yet possess-
ing all things. " The righteous shall hold on his way,
and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and
stronger*."

How strange and impressive is now the narrative,
while David with love answers the enmity and hate of
Saul ! And very striking is the description, when twice
overcome by David's sparing his life when it was in his
power, he relents and is softened for a time ; but only
for a time ; for the evil spirit within him has become
too powerful, has taken up his abode and will not be
dislodged. " And it came to pass, when David had
made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that
Saul said. Is this thy voice, my son David? And
Saul lifted up his voice and wept. And he said to
David, Thou art more righteous than I : for thou hast
rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee
evil*." He even prays for him, "wherefore the Lord
reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me
this day." Who could have supposed that Saul after
he had thus spoken, should yet again pursue David as
he had done before; and should again have his life
spared by him in the same manner, and make the like
confession of his unreasonable hate and sin; and

* Job xvii. 9. * 1 Sam. xxiv. 16, 17.

192 BAUL.

that yet notwithstanding, David's life should be no
more safe with him than it had been before. " Be-
hold," he says, "I have played the fool, and have
erred exceedingly.'* " Blessed be thou, my son
David: thou shalt do great things and still prevail*."
O miserable state, to be thus hunted and haunted
by the evil which in his better moments he de-
plores ! he is like two persons, his better self, and the
evil one within him, contending and struggling toge-
ther for awhile, till they become both one. And thus
at length, while he yields to the evil spirit, he shuts up
against himself the mercies and loving-kindness of
God, and is cast out from His presence. For now the
time of real distress and trouble comes upon him, and
he feels the approach of the King of Terrors. " And
when Saul saw the host of the Philistines he was
afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when
Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him
not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by pro-
phets." And now, O strange and sad reverse, the
Anointed of God, the Hope of Israel, lies stretched
on the ground in the witch's cave 1 Alas, indeed I it
would seem as if the evil spirit were looking through
his prison bars and mocking him throughout with his
false pretences to goodness, with semblances and
counterparts of his former sins and inconsistencies.
"Thou renewest Thy witnesses against me'." He
that would spare the cruel Agag will not spare the
merciful David ; he that was so careful of sacrifice slays
eighty and five innocent Priests of God in his wrath
against David ; he who saved the best from the Ama-
lekites to sacrifice to the Lord his God, afterwards

• 1 Sam. xxvi. 21. 26. r Job x. 17.

SAUL. 193

falls upon the Priests ; and " Nob, the city of the
Priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both
men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen,
and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword '•"
In '^ his zeal for Israel and Judah," he broke the
covenant thej had made, and slew the Gibeonites
whom Joshua spared, till their blood called aloud to
God *. He who would have the kingdom perpetuated
in his own house, attempts to slay his own son on
whom that house depended, because he loved the heir
of the kingdom whom God had chosen. He who cared
so much for the people's voice, now hates the sound of
that voice because it is with David. He who in his
zeal for God had put away all the witches from out of
Israel, is now by her of Endor lifted up from the dust
and comforted. Unseasonably and against God he
spared the Amalekite, and by l^e hands of an Ama-
lekite he himself dies.

Now to us all this lesson is very striking ; Scrip-
ture always speaks to us in history and life what it
enjoins us in word and precept : our Lord says, " Hold
fast, that no man take thy crown/' and here before
our eyes we see the choice and the crown transferred
from one to another, and we see the reasons why —
and the effect. May we consider it.

Let us not put away from us this account of Saul
as belonging to another state of things, for whatever
it may speak to kings and nations, it is full of a home
lesson for the heart of each. !For may not each of
us in the home of his own heart have an evil spirit
that troubleth him ? It may be so with many in
various degrees who think not of it. The cares which

• 1 Sam. xxii. 19. * 2 Sam. xxi. 1, 2.

O

194 SAUL.

most suffer are from this source. What is envy,
covetousness, impatience, the plague of the heart, but
this, that a man has in some degree, perhaps in years
long past, sinned in this way ; and so, not having re-
pented, given place to an evil spirit that troubles and
keeps him from God ? This may be the case, and yet for
awhile he may have much comfort in religion, as Saul
had in the harp of David ; Church music may in like
manner soothe him and raise him up as it were to
Heaven ; or it may be impressive Sermons ; or even
the study of God's holy Word ; so much so, that under
the influence of these the evil spirit may depart, and
he may be refreshed, nay, more, he may find rest in
Christ. He may have soft passionate relentings, as
Saul had, struck with the goodness of David, at the
sight of which the evil one may depart, as before
from the heavenly music of David's harp. But this
is not enough, unless he press forward earnestly, and
give no place to such an inmate in his breast any
more. " When thou goest with thine adversary,
as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou be
dolivored from him ^**

Hi-ripturo reveals to us that there is in' such cases
a Hpiriturtl being, a living person, who takes posses-
Hion of the mind. And I would particularly call
attention to the expression of the text, "an evil
spirit from the Lord." Now although this is an
awful and alarming expression, yet it is also full of
instruction and comfort, as every thing must be which
reminds us that we are in the hands of God ; as we
before noticed in the history of Pharaoh. When we
trace in our very disquietudes and sorrows the indica-

1 St.Lukexii.68.

SAUL. 195

tions of an enl spirit that troubles us, this teaches us
where our health is. That this evil spirit is from
God is no proof that we are given up of Him. For
indeed even David himself when he numbered the
people had an evil spirit from God, allowed to bring
upon him that temptation and its consequent misery.
He can touch no one but as permitted of God ; and
that permission may be for various reasons : he was
allowed to tempt Job for his greater perfection;
through the false prophets he deluded Ahab to bring
upon him God's judgment; he troubled Saul with
gloom and pride on his departing from God; he
tempted Judas that he might go to his own place ;
he prompted David to sin from which he speedily
recovered by repentance. In like manner he is
allowed to tempt us ; and it is indeed sometimes, as in
the case of Saul and of David, a judgment upon us
for some fault on our part, or some secret unbelief
or pride of heart, but we are thus by this expression
of the text taught to go to God for help. We can-
not be too often urged in every way to do this. Why
indeed is the account of our Lord's going about in
the Gospels so vividly set before us, but to instruct
us in this truth ; the Apostle's description is, that He
** went about healing all those that were oppressed of
the devil;" and the same may be said at this day as
He is seen by faith in His Church. When you find
in yourself any ill-will, any worldly disappointment or
envious sadness, go to Him at once in earnest prayer,
entreating Him to remove from you the power and
guilt of that sin which has allowed the evil spirit to
disquiet you. When you have thus done all in your
power, then again the lesson of Saul and David will come
in for your guidance, warning you not to take things
o 2

196 SAUL.

into your own hands from impatience and distrust of
God, but to wait patiently upon Him. He will have
the remedy and deliverance to be entirely His own
doing. He only wants your faith and confidence in
Himself. And His word is " Be still then, and know
that I am God V

« Pb. xlvi. 10.

SERMON XVII.

DAVID.

Acts xiii. 22.

^ To whom also He gave testimony, and said, I have found David
the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart."

In speaking of the Saints of God in the Old Testa-
ment, what shall we say of David ? Of one who though
he lived nearly three thousand years ago, yet whose
thoughts and words are with us unto this day — nay,
all the day long, our familiar companions by day and
by night. "We hardly know how to speak of him ;
it is like having to speak of a dear friend or relative,
or of a saintly father and guardian, when we know
not what to say, and had rather be silent. We cannot
hold him apart and judge of him. "We have him so
deeply lodged within, like a part of our very soids,
that we cannot take him out of ourselves, hold him up
and look at him, as we would a picture, or judge of
him as we would of another man. For such the use
of the Psalms makes " the sweet Psalmist of Israel '*
to be to us. God has in an especial manner given
unto us David as a friend.
But David is not only an inspired Teacher, he has a

198 DATXD.

known history besides, and one of no little interest.
Let us endeavour to consider bim in tbat ; for as if to
teacb us that something more is wanted in addition to
good feelings and good words, God has been pleased
together with the Psalms to give us an account of the
life of him that wrote them ; and that of one who was
not only a minstrel, and a prophet, and a devout wor-
shipper of God ; but also a soldier, a shepherd, and a
king ; so as to be an example to every state and con-
dition. We have of him in an especial manner the
inner and the outer life as of no other man ; and it is
especially the life of faith.

Again ; the history of his life is not only of itself so
fully told and so engaging ; but it has this remarkable
circumstance connected with it ; that we have in the
different occasions of life the very thoughts they gave
rise to, and the inner heart poured forth before God.
It is not that he tells us what he did and what he
thought, as when a person writes a narrative of him-
self, but much more— the same laid open at the time
to the God of truth.

Por instance; we read of his being chosen at an
early age to play as a minstrel before Saul; the ac-
count is, " And it came to pass, when an evil spirit
from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp,
and played with his hand ; so Saul was refreshed, and
the evil spirit departed from him^" Here we might
well inquire and wish to know what the wonderful
strains might have been which the minstrel sung, that
the evil spirit should depart, and the unhappy king
find comfort in God. Now though we are not told
the words and measures which he then played, yet in

^ 1 Sam. xvi. 2S.

DAVID. 199

the Psalms we have the kind of subjects which were
then upon the harp. It might for instance have been
the shepherd's own song. "The Lord is my Shep-
herd, therefore can I lack nothing. He shall feed me
in a green pasture. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil."

Again ; all the circumstances of his contest while
yet almost a child with the giant Philistine, derive a
great interest from our having his own heart-words in
the Psalms, describing the spirit under which it was
done. "It is not my sword that shall help me?*'
" It is God that girdeth me with strength of war.'*
" He maketh my feet like harts' feet." " He teacheth
mine hands to fight." "Some put their trust in
chariots, and some in horses ; but we will remember
the name of the Lord our God*."

Then next ensues the crowning part of David's life,
his contest with Saul ; the one adding injury to injury,
evil to evil, hatred to hatred ; and the other requiting
all with forgiveness, with benefits and love ; we read
of his flying from, cave to cave, with some few incidents
the most beautlAl in the history of mankind; but
how does all this come forth in the Psalms — his strug-
gles, his enemies, his faith in God ? " In the Lord
put I my trust ; how say ye then to my soul, that she
should flee as a bird unto the hill^?" "I will love
Thee, O Lord, my strength ; the Lord is my stony
rock, and my defence *." Then follow his glorious and
sublime exultations in God. History gives the pic-
ture ; but in the Psalms the very picture is found to
live ; it is breathing full of expression ; and the bloom
of life is fresh upon it.

a Pb. XX. 7. * Ps. xi. 1. * Ps. xviil. 1.

200 DATID.

But the life of David is as yet high and prosperous ;
he goes forth before God with clean hands, trusting
and rejoicing; and were this all, the Psalms would
not be what they now are to the Christian, — for which
of us has been thus ? But the terrible blast of sin has
to pass over him, in the bitterness of which he has to
know the depth of man's wickedness : the blight and
decay is on the leaf which was so full of promise ; and
from henceforth there is a deeper, sadder tone.

We read in the Scripture narrative of his repent-
ance being accepted of G-od after his great sin ; but it
is throughout the Psalms that we find the depth and
extent of that repentance. A dark heavy cloud had
come for a time between him and his God ; and though
that cloud became lined with light, yet ever after he
was as one broken-hearted to the end of his days ; he
walked near the ground mournfully and heavily, though
comforted of God. Oh, how does he earnestly long,
thirst, and faint for the light of Good's countenance to an
afflicted penitent soul ! how does he forget all sorrows
in the greatness of that sorrow, that he had offended
Him! how does he know no fear, but that God
would take from him His Holy Spirit on account
of his sin ! " Make me a clean heart, God ; and
renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away
from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit
from me."

In the anguish of his great sorrow he finds the
hidden fount of consolation, to which he leads others
as the chief of mourners, the prince of penitents. It
is now we know him not as the sinner, not as the
penitent, but as the forgiven penitent. It is this that
renders him the pattern to the Christian, and the
minstrel expressive of his hope. We see in him the

DAVID. 201

beauty of Job's expression, who speaks of it as the
attribute of God, " Who giveth songs in the night *."
And here it may be observed that faith in God,
which was the great characteristic in David, was
shown in the beginning of his life by his overcoming
every enemy, but in the latter part by his repentance ;
which was so remarkable, so thorough and entire, that
it evinced, it may be, even a greater faith than his
youthful piety; as it required greater faith to rise
and adhere to G^d, nor let go His love, when over-
come himself, than when he overcame others. Por
such repentance is more difficult, more rare, and
therefore more a proof of faith and love than inno-
cence itself. Thousands and tens of thousands fall to
one that thus rises after his fall. To fall and to rise
again proves the Divine life even more than never to
have fallen ; to die and to be made alive is greater
than the former life. Not that repentance is equal to
innocence, but that to have been in the toils of Satan,
to have been among the dead, and then to have
escaped is the greatest of miracles. To have been ill
with a sickness in which most die, and to have re-
covered, is not so happy as not to have been sick at
all, but it is a greater proof of strength. Por the lust
by which he fell was but a transient passion, says St.
Augustine, not the abiding inmate of his bosom but a
stranger ; not as with Solomon the corruption of the
heart ^. And his repentance was as great and signal
as was his sin ; it went through his whole heart and
life. It was then that he found out the depth of his
own natural sinfulness, such as it had been even
before his fall ; he was set as it were to search out the
dark comers of his heart, where such a serpent could

» Job XXXV. 10. • Vol. iii. pp. 94, 96.

202 DATH).

have harboured, which before hid itself from God and
from the light. " Behold," he says, " I was shapen in
wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me.
But lo. Thou requirest truth in the inward parts."
Yet his hope in God was equal to his grief, for he
adds, " Thou shalt wash me."

Then comes all the tale of his outward afflictions ;
his grief for his child, a pattern for all mourners,
fasting and praying while there was hope, and when
that hope had ceased, resigned to God. And then
his yet far more heavy cause for mourning. "When he
lost an innocent child he was comforted ; but at the
death of Absalom, he could find no comfort but in the
love of God, And then, "not in evil dejection," says
St. Augustine, " but in pious humiliation, he accepted
the chastening from the Lord; submitting to it as
medicine ; not returning evil for evil, but having a
heart prepared to follow the will of God^"

The account of his grief for Absalom is indeed most
affecting, but it has a most sacred interest in his own
words in the Psalms, " Why art thou so heavy, my
Boul, and why art thou so disquieted within me ? O
put thy trust in God : for I will yet thank Him, which
is the help of my countenance, and my God *." But
why in Scripture is heard that lamentable cry, so
emphatically repeated, " O Absalom, my son, my son!"
by the pen of inspiration engraven on the rock for
ever? but that Christ's own voice was in that cry
and His bitter cup, for His own Israel that had risen
against Him, and sought His life.

Thus was David's repentance deepened, extended,
perfected. Indeed it has been said that the expression

' In Ps. cxlii. vol. iv. p. 226*3, and see vol. iii. pp. 94, 95.
' Ps. TLiii, xliii.

DAVID. 208

of his being "a man after Gk)d's own heart'" arose
from God's foreseeing the sincerity of his repentance,
whereby he is in the number of those of whom he
himself says, *^ Blessed is he whose unrighteousness is
forgiven, and whose sin is covered *." Because it was
the will of God to choose in Christ those that are sin-
cerely penitent, there being none just before God.
David was according to God's own heart as a pattern
of this Evangelical repentance, and the humiliation of
those that are accepted in the Beloved. This is set
before us in the 51st Psalm.

By others * it has been supposed that David was the
man after God's own heart, from his love of his enemies
and forgiveness of injuries ; and indeed we are told by
our Lord Himself, that it is by this love more espe-
cially we bear the likeness of our Father which is
in Heaven. But perhaps we should be wrong in
limiting the character which God has given us of
David either to this or to that ; it was not in his re-
pentance only, nor in his forgiveness of injuries, that he
was the " man after God's own heart," but in some-
thing more extensive, of which these were but the
parts. His love for his enemy was fulfilling the law of
Christ before that law was given — for it was the " new
commandment " which Christ brought with His Gos-
pel ; but it was a love secretly shed abroad in his heart
by the love of God. Loving God, and feeling that he
had need of His mercy, and also, as expressed through-
out the Psalms, that he should obtain that mercy, he
was disposed to love and forgiveness. He loved much

9 1 Sam. xiii. 14 ; Acts xiii. 22.

* Ps. xxxii. 1, 2. See St. Aug. vol. vi. p. 234.

* As St. Hilary, St. Bernard.

204 SAYID.

because he had much hope of mercj ; and loving much
he felt he had much i^»4 of forgiveness. In the cases
both of Saul and of Shimei his forgiveness is expressly
connected with the love of God, and with his own
trust of God's goodness to himself*. In these there-
fore he was after Grod's own heart as accepted in
Christ.

But the foundation and the crown of all in David
was his faith in God. All may be resolved into this ;
all the fruits were from this, or rather this was the
fruit of all ; begun and ended in deeper and yet deeper
humiliation as he came more and more to know God's
mercies in Christ. This faith it is that marks his first
history, when he stands before the armies of Israel as
the unarmed boy, the champion of God ; and then it
incidentally appears that this was but the progressive
advancement of what had already gone before ; he had
already proved his armour, his armour of faith in God.
" Thy servant," he says, " slew both the lion and the
bear." " And Saul," observes St. Augustine, " per-
ceived that it was of God *."

It is remarkable throughout how this his great faith
was in the keeping of humility, and how he studied to
preserve it so ; for we have no more beautiful descrip-
tion of this temper than in the 131st Psalm, " Lord, I
am not high-minded ; I have no proud looks ; I refrain
my soul and keep it low, like as a weaned child."
Thus when Samuel first came to his father's house, he
was forgotten and set aside by his own family as of no
account. And afterwards when sent to his brothers
in the army, great as he was in the sight of God, he
was little amongst men ; for how contemptuously does

* See 1 Sftm. xxvi. 24; 2 Sam. xvi. 12. « Vol. v. p. 230.

DAYID. 205

EUab, bis eldest brother, speak of biin P Again, when
aften^ards his praise was in ijLe mouth of all — the
victorious soldier and the destirfed king — he overcomes
Saul as much bj his humility as by his forgiving
charity. " After whom dost thou pursue P " he says ;
" after a dead dog, after a flea* P" In the service of
God, he says to Michal, " I will be base in mine own
sight*." Thus humility was preserved by his attri-
buting every thing to God ; the evil blast of pride
touched not his spirit because it was strong in God ;
thus his slaying the lion, and the bear, and the Philis-
tine, he assigns to God only. "Thou comest to
me," he says, "with a sword and a shield ; but I come
to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts ^" " He put
his life in his hand," said Jonathan of him to his father
Saul; it was no presumption, but a venturing ail
from holy confidence in God. And this will appear
the more strongly by the temptation to the contrary
which assailed him in his latter years, when he num-
bered the people. How contrary was this thought to
the usual grace of his character, and to what he had so
often expressed in the Psalms, of all his strength
being not in armiee, but in God P

Such then is the meaning of the term, the " man
after God's own heart," which is the testimony of God
Himself to the character of David ; one that thought
as God thinks, willed as God wills ; one therefore on
whom was set the especial love of God : and he has
through all generations the praise of God ; the best
thing found in the best of succeeding kings was that
they should be as their father David. "When we first

» 1 Sam. xxiv. 14. • 2 Sam. vi. 22.

7 1 Sam. xvii. 37. 45.

lUTii). 207

baih ^ lakers of D&rid ;*' tber tbat jwe ic HiiLftioiie
can izziderm<8iud '^ tUf BoDf of AUitesb mmI aiUge launb :"
no man if irordir to t^)exi the jbook ai«G ti#e Mfiec
seali, bot ^ tike Laon of Juda. tbe Ho^n ifi Iht^ic .''
The asointkig of 1^ kix^ hach crverfitiwx u- ibe ffiu.-
itrel and the soldier; all t^betie «a^ foubC it CttniR;
and being in Him ther partake of Hii twrtmitwi^.

Thus then it is vith the ChntAaut^ vs/^ m fniy^n^
sented as a eoldkr, ret vithal as prof4aet aeuc |)m«s :
all war withoot, within the melodj of tLe !$fm^
speaking in Psalms and spiritoal songs; witlKMiS k
sorrow, trouble, and danger, the lion and the bear, tlte
giant Philistine, Saul, t^oeg^ Ahithopbel, and Absflt*
lom ; but within there is peace and joy in God, the oil
of gladness, the b'ght of God's presence, the sense of
His nearness, the shield of faith, the sword of the
Spirit, the good Shepherd leading to the waters of
comfort.

Such is to us '^ the sweet Psalmist of Israel.*' And
whom should God have chosen but the man after
His own heart, — as one whose praises and prayers
should be such as to convey the outpouring of the
Christian soul unto God ? Nay, the Psalms are almost
like the Prayer Book, if we may so speak, of our Blessed
Saviour Himself. We have in the Psalms all the con-
tests of the real life of David, as a minstrel, as a
soldier, as a penitent, as an afflicted father ; we have

Iieart in the Psalms, and in and through all he
e Anointed of God.
remarkable thai when the anointing of David
Prophet Samuel it first described, the account
ediately added of his minstrelsy. After the
• B«r. XV. 3 ; V. 6.

206 DAVID.

behold him, he is as a shepherd boy amid his flock at
Bethlehem, probably the same spot where the shep-
herds afterwards heard the Angelic song. By night
and day, in Psalms and songs of praise, he exercised
himself in the law of the Lord ; like a tree by the
wat^r side, about to bring forth his fruit in due season.
" With his whole heart," it is said, " he sang songs,
and loved Him that made him ®." Nor without toil
and danger was his faith exercised, while he was thus
trained in heavenly wisdom apart from the world.
The eye of Q-od was on his heart, and the remarkable
expression concerning him is, " I have found David
My servant." His eyes that are in every place,
beholding the evil and the good, rested on one, found
him out as we would a great treasure. And when
Samuel came he was the one chosen of God, though
little esteemed of his own, like Him of Whom
it is said, "For neither did His brethren believe
on Him." And then he comes forth as a pattern to
the Christian of all time, in whom perfect love casteth
out fear. He put off Saul's armour, which is as it
were the old law, and put on the new man, which is
j&ith in Christ. He went forth " unarmed," says St.
Ambrose, " in the sight of man, but armed with God-
head." The anointing of Samuel was stirred within him
to this kingly prelude of power. He goes forth with
the sling and the stone — like Him who by the Word of
God overcomes the great enemy — ^like Him who says,
" I looked and there was none to help, and I wondered
that there was none to uphold. Therefore Mine own
arm brought salvation *."
Thus no one can interpret the Psalms but He Who

' Ecclus. xlvii. 8. * Isa. xliii. 5.

DAVTD. 207

hath " the keys of David ;" they that are in Him alone
can understand " the SoDg of Moses and of the Lamb ;'*
no man is worthy to open the Book and the seven
seals, but "the Lion of Juda, the Root of David ^"
The anointing of the king hath overflown to the min-
strel and the soldier; all these are found in Christ,
and being in Him they partake of His anointiug.

Thus then it is with the Christiau, who is repre-
sented as a soldier, yet withal as prophet and priest ;
all war without, within the melody of the Spirit,
speakiug in Psalms and spiritual songs; without is
sorrow, trouble, and dauger, the lion and the bear, the
giant Philistine, Saul, Doeg, Ahithophel, and Absa-
lom ; but within there is peace and joy in God, the oil
of gladness, the light of God's presence, the sense of
His nearness, the shield of faith, the sword of the
Spirit, the good Shepherd leading to the waters of
comfort.

Such is to us " the sweet Psalmist of Israel." And
whom should God have chosen but the man after
His own heart, — as one whose praises and prayers
should be such as to convey the outpouring of the
Christian soul unto God ? Nay, the Psalms are almost
like the Prayer Book, if we may so speak, of our Blessed
Saviour Himself. We have in the Psalms all the con-
tests of the real life of David, as a minstrel, as a
soldier, as a penitent, as an afflicted father ; we have
all his heart in the Psalms, and in and through all he
is as the Anointed of God.

It is remarkable that when the anointiug of David
by the Prophet Samuel is first described, the account
is immediately added of his minstrelsy. After the

* Rev. XV. 3 5 V. 6.

208 DATIB,

anointing it is said, " and the Spirit of the Lord came
upon David from that day forward ;" and then imme-
diately is introduced, apparently out of the order of
time, the mention of his playing upon the harp before
Saul, and of the evil spirit departing from the unhappy
king '. The mention of his music together with that
of the Spirit being with him, seems to indicate that
this his playing was of a Divine character ; as the sound
of the harp was to the Prophet Elisha ; it partook of
the anointing of God within, the expressiveness and
the impressiveness of the Spirit of God that was upon
his heart. This the first mention of David appears to
be a sign and token of what he should hereafter be
unto the end of the world ; that in all the ills which the
evil spirit raises against us without, or brings on our
mind within, the Psalms should come to us as a fresh
watery breeze in a desert. That to sing or chaunt
the Psalms of David should be the delight of child-
hood, the protection of youth, the strength of man-
hood, the comfort of old age.

Happy is he who knows them best, says them over,
and makes them the vehicles of his own thoughts conti-
nually to Heaven, so that the statutes of God become
songs in the house of his pilgrimage. There is no
companion of a sick bed, no preparation for death
equal to the Psalms of David ; in the many troubles
of life we find therein the soothing voice of the Great
Comforter; when wars and dissensions are abroad,
the heart is engaged by the description of them, in
order that it may be led on to its true peace ; all our
temptations are entered into in order to show us a way
to escape. " In the multitude of the sorrows " which

« 1 Sam. xvi. 13, 14. 23.

DAVID. 209

are in the heart we are reminded that God numbers
them all, and His comforts refresh the soul. There is
no time, no occasion, no age, no condition, but will
find herein a sympathizing friend, like an angelic
guardian, or visitant from Heaven.

SEEMON XVIII.

SOLOMON.

Nehemiah xiii. 26.

"Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet
among many nations was there no king like him, who was
beloved of his God."

Thebe are three books in the Holy Scriptures written
by Solomon, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song
of Songs. It may appear remarkable that one who
fell so grievously should contribute at all to the Book
of God, nor is there any other instance of the kind ;
but his sad history adds a peculiar weight of warning
to his words : nor are there any books more strongly-
marked by the Fioger of Q-od. The very order in
which they occur is instructive * ; and the three books
together make up a perfect and impressive lesson.

In the Proverbs we have all practical wisdom taught
us by one gifted beyond all men with understanding,
as of all natural things, so especially of judgment in
life and morals, the knowledge " to discern between
good and evil'." To this is added the Ecclesiastes, of

^ St. Bernard in Cant. Cant ' 1 Kings iil 9.

SOLOMOK. 211

the vanity of all that is confined to this life alone ; and
then in an instructive order, after these two books,
that which is spiritual and divine. Thus are we taught
that to one first exercised in morals and prudence, and
then learning in mortification of spirit that happiness
is not to be found in this world, follows the Song of
Solomon. " My beloved is mine, and I am His ; He
feedeth among the lilies," i.e., among the pure-hearted
of the earth, " until the day break, and the shadows
flee away \" Such is the Christian's course towards
perfection; "He hath set my feet upon a rock and
ordered my goings," and then " He hath put a new
song in my mouth," the Song of Songs, which is
as " a garden enclosed " and " a fountain sealed,"
to all but the pure in heart.

And who, even humanly speaking, from his own
experience could have been so powerful a witness to
declare unto us the vanity of life as this wise, and
rich, and great king ? He had given unto him abun-
dantly all that the heart could desire of earthly good,
and from the wonderful reach of his knowledge could
look before and after to the bounds of human things,
and yet felt within that aching void which nothing
could fill but God. And then, considering the nature
of those temptations by which he fell, how impressive
becomes the Song of Solomon ! He was ensnared by
the love of strange women ; and then — the wonder-
ful love and the wonderful judgment of God ! — in that
the deep, dark emptiness and misery of heart which
this occasioned, he speaks, as Job says, " wonderful
things that he knew not;" he had infused into his
understanding by the Spirit of God a sense that human

» SongofSol.ii. 16, 17.

p 2

212 SOLOliOK.

love, even in its purest and best estate, was but an
image of the union of the soul with God and of the
pleasures which are at His right hand for evermore.
It was given him to see " in a glass darkly," that which
none but the pure in heart could know. For in that
Song the Heavenly Bridegroom by earthly figures
veils His face, as Moses did when he came from the
Mount, so that none but they that are worthy can
behold. And indeed in the books of Solomon the
Spirit of Q-od speaks to us Christians ; and therefore
ofben with an intent and meaning far beyond what
the writer himself could have known. In the very-
opening of the Proverbs, St. Augustine observes that
Christ is spoken of. " My son, if sinners entice thee,
saying, Let us lie in wait for blood, consent thou
not*.'* And when passages from the Proverbs are
referred to in the New Testament, a new light and a
new sense is often given them.

There is also another great dignity attached to
Solomon in the Church of God, that he is an especial
type and figure of Christ ; as the promised Son of
David, the King of the Jews, on the throne of his
father, the Builder of the Temple, the Prince of Peace ;
for the name Solomon signifies " the Peaceable." " I
will give him rest," said God to David, " from all his
enemies round about ; for his name shall be Solomon ;
and I will give peace unto Israel in his days *." All
such promises to Solomon, as throughout the 72nd
Psalm, have their true fulfilment in One greater than
Solomon, in Christ alone '. Our Lord pointed out to
the Jews that He Himself was both the Son of David

* Prov. i. 2. » 1 Chron. xxii. 9.

< St. Aug. CiTitas Dei. vol. vii. p. 768 ; vol. iv. p. 1061. Euarr.
in Ps. Ixxii.

BOLOHOiir. 213

and the Son of God. He is " the Peaceable,'* for
there is no peace but in Him ; He is our peace ; it is
He that gives peace, peace in this world in anticipation
of that perfect peace when the last enemy shall be
destroyed, and nothing more shall disturb that peace.
He is the true Solomon to Whom judgment is given,
and Who searcheth the hearts to know what true love
is. He is the Framer of that true Temple whose
Builder and Maker is G-od ; building up living stones
into that spiritual House, without noise, all fitted and
prepared, each one for his place, to make an habitation
meet for the indwelling of God. For all this is being
fulfilled in His visible Church, since that time when
at His Eesurrection He sat down on the right hand of
God, according to the promise made to David in the
110th Psalm, " Sit Thou on My right hand, until I
make Thine enemies Thy footstool.'* From that time
He is our Peace amidst the wars and troubles of this
world, Himself our Best, extending His kingdom
" from the flood," the Jordan of His Baptism, as St.
Augustine explains it, " unto the world's end ^."

To this must be added one sad reflection ; that as
Solomon sets forth in figure the visible Church of God,
and the wisdom of the world, its riches, and honour,
and power flowing into it, and all the kingdoms of the
earth, the Queen of the South, the Kings of Arabia
and Saba bringing gifts; so does Solomon seem to
represent to us its falling away in these latter
times ; the visible Church, when it has become great
and established, falling into idolatries, ensnared by the
many arts and temptations of wealth, the *^ seducing
spirits " of the last days ; and thus by the righteous

' Ps. Ixxii. 8.

214 SOLOMON.

judgment of Q-od becoming broken and divided, as the
kingdom of Solomon was on account of his ''heart
being turned away from God^"

It was beholding this, the corruption of the Church,
that St. John in the Apocalypse " wondered," he says,
"with a great astonishment." And early writers,
though they saw a figure of the Church's increase in
the peace and prosperity of Solomon's kingdom, yet
did not thus anticipate a resemblance in its decay and
fall ; it has been the sad experience of after ages which
has added this.

Thus Israel which was trained by temporal promises,
was given to see that the highest pinnacle and crown of
all that the world esteems is not all, as shown in their
one great chosen king, the heir of the temporal pro-
mises ; something more was needed. As St. Augustine
has observed, the Jews were thus taught that this was
not that true Son of David, that they might look forward
to another Solomon in whom the promises were ful-
filled, and something higher and better in the Heir of
the kingdom. Thus, like the false mother in the Judg-
ment of Solomon, Israel after the flesh overwhelmed
with her own weight and killed her own son while she
negligently slumbered*, and then claimed for herself
the Son of the true mother, and says in envy, divide it
with the sword that it be not thine nor mine ; but the
true Israel, that which beholds God, as the name
imports, in losing her own Son hath received Him
again as alive from the dead. Love is ever the sign
of the true mother, the true Church * ; the false church
is for herself, is full of envy and self-seeking ; the true

» 1 Kings xi. 9—11. » 1 Kings iii. 19.

* St. Aug. Serm. x, vol. v. pp. 92—100.

BOLOMOir. 215

Church anxious only for the salvation of the children
of God, willing with Moses and St. Paul for herself to
perish rather than they. And alas ! in Solomon him-
self, for want of that true love, how was Christ
divided? For "what agreement hath the Temple of
God with idols?"

And now let us take home to ourselves the sad
history and example of Solomon. He was chosen of
God, and afterwards rejected as Saul had been ; he was
full of wisdom and understanding, and what is far
more, of holiness and goodness. There is perhaps no
one of whom the early promise of good seemed so
decisive : when first mentioned it is said, " And the
Lord loved him*,*' which seems to indicate an early
growing in grace as in God's favour. And after he
came to the throne : " And Solomon loved the Lord,
walking in the statutes of David his father'." "And
the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him
exceedingly *." And then follows his prayer for wis-
dom, and that with all humility ; for he says as his
plea, " I am but a little child ; I know not how to go
out or come in*." And the wisdom for which he
asks is not the knowledge of the stars or of the
secrets of nature, but "an understanding heart to
judge Thy people ; that I may discern between good
and bad." As the same is elsewhere expressed by
him, " Give me wisdom that sitteth by Thy throne,"
" that I may know what is pleasing unto Thee "...
" for she shall lead me soberly in my doings," " so
shall my works be acceptable*." And even for a
higher wisdom than this, " the things that are in

» 2 Sara. xii. 24. ' 1 Kings iii. 3.

* 2 Chron. i. 1. » 1 Kings iii. 7.

^ Wisdom ix.

216 SOLOMOK.

Heaven, who liath searched out . . . except Thou give,
wisdom, and send Thy Holy Spirit from above."
Thus was it the very best wisdom for which he
sought, and he sought for it in the very best way, not
by study, but by prayer, as the especial gift of G-od.
Por it is " a point of \^isdom,*' he says, " to know
whose gift she was''." What can be higher than the
account of wisdom which he himself gives in the third
chapter of Proverbs ? " All the things that thou canst
desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of
days is in her right hand ; and in her left riches and
honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all
her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them
that lay hold on her." It is evidently of religion
itself that he speaks ; and his actions and words indi-
cate holiness as well as wisdom ; instance his care in
the building of God's House, of all the appointments
connected with it; and the great holiness of his
prayers in the dedication of it *. And the acceptance
and express approval of all by Almighty God.

Add to which, of the Queen of the South our Lord
speaks, as if &om a desire of holiness and goodness
she came from the ends of the earth "to hear the
wisdom of Solomon," attracted by their report : and it
was by his worship and the ordering of his people in
religion that she was overcome with a devout wonder
and astonishment •. Indeed, he was given not only to
set forth the fulness of love, but also the fulness of
knowledge, which is to be laid up in the Church of
God ; " there came of all people to hear his wisdom
from all kings of the earth;" "for God gave him

' Wisdom viii. 21. ■ As 1 Kings viii. 27.

' St. Luke xi. 31, and 1 King» x. 1—0.

80L0M0K. 217

wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and large-
ness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore.
And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of the chil-
dren of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt."
And the wise of the world are mentioned as not to be
compared with him. " For he was wiser than all
men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and
Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol \" Thus as
Daniel was wiser than the astrologers of Babylon, and
Moses than the magicians of Egjpt, so Solomon in
his largeness of understanding beyond Egypt and the
children of the East seems to indicate " the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge which are hid in Christ," the
deep things of the Spirit of God ; that those mysteries
beyond all understanding which are revealed of God
in His Church, surpass all the marvels of physical
science, and the discoveries made by its advances, when
in the latter days " many shall run to and fro, and know-
ledge shall increase," ''and none of the wicked shall un-
derstand, but the wise shall understand ;" and " some
of them of understanding shall fall'." Wisdom so
expressly given of God must have been true wisdom.

To what then are we to attribute the great change
in Solomon ? It has been said, as by St. Augustine, that
he was more injured by prosperity than profited by
wisdom. Yet we may observe, that his falling away is
not in Scripture attributed to his wealth, his power,
and honour. And perhaps we may consider that as
these were given him by Almighty God, not of his
own seeking, but as a reward for his prayer for wis-
dom, that God who reserves to Himself' the power to

1 Kings iy. 30, 31 . ' Dan. xi. 35 ; xii 10.

» St Matt. xix. 26.

218 SOLOMON.

counteract the evils of wealth, did by his great wisdom
preserve in him an antidote for these great tempta-
tions, the gold of Ophir, the admiration of the
Queen of Sheba, and of all the kings of the earth, the
subjection of all his kingdoms. One express cause
is assigned for it: "But king Solomon loved many-
strange women." "Many," that was against the
Law; and "strange," that was against the Law*:
and this perverted his heart to idols. It was as the
sin of Adam, of Samson, of David. His very wisdom,
and the light he had received from Gk>d aggravated
his condemnation, "And the Lord was angry with
Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord,
which had appeared unto him twice, and had com-
manded him concerning this thing*." Solomon was
very highly favoured ; he comes before us almost like
one of the saints of G-od in his earlier years : but he
needed the great mark of Christ. Solomon was not
afflicted. Great is the holiness expressed in his
prayers ; " Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens
cannot contain Thee ; how much less this house which
I have built * ! " but there is no humiliation and con-
fession of sins, as in Job, in Daniel, in David. There
is a secret knowledge which is hid from the wise and
revealed by the Father unto babes; and this is the
mystery of the Cross ; it is made known to Christ's
little ones ; of whom as clothed with His righteous-
ness it may be said, that " Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these."

Alas ! how like is it to the case of that rich young
man in the Gospels, of whom it is said that our Lord

* Deut. xviiL I7. * 1 Kings xi. 9.

« 2 Chron. vi. 18.

BOLOHOK. 219

"looked upon lum" and "loved him." He had kept
the commandments &om his youth, but laden with
possessions he was not willing to take up the Cross ;
he was too big for the narrow door of life. And what
a warning to ourselves, that we take not the many
signs of God's love which we find about us, nor
even the bright light of His countenance within the
soul, for any sure indication of our final perseverance
and acceptance. All his wisdom, all his greatness and
power, nay, all his holiness and good deeds pass away
" as the dew of Hermon," or the morning rays that
life up the hill of Sion ; and are but as a sad history to
add force to those words ; — " What shall it profit a man,
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul P'*

We cannofc indeed conclude that Solomon himself
did not at last repent ; but this has always been con-
sidered by the Church as very doubtful, to say the
least. All we know is, that Scripture has fully made
known to us his falling away from Q-od, but has said
nothing of his repentance. The very silence is awful
and impressive. And what has he left on record?
He to whom the wisest of the world yield the palm of
wisdom, before whom " the children of the East," the
mighty names of the sages of old pale away and hide
their lights ? He has left to all the world treasures
of Divine wisdom, and with them the warning of his
own folly.

" They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of
the firmament ;" but he seems as a star fallen from
Heaven, or as a " wandering star " which has lost its
course ; and become the feiurful token of sadness and
dismay.

How shall we speak of Solomon? We too from

220 SOLOHON.

the utmost parts of the earth, like the Queen of
Sheha, are drawn to him, our hearts and affections are
moved towards one of whom we learn so much, whose
Divine sayings are in our heart of hearts, whose
wisdom is our guide. We cannot bear to think that
he should have fallen. "We are moved by it as by the
loss of a friend or instructor, and are disposed to
leave it in silence with G-od, saying, in those touching
words spoken over the prophet that delivered the wit-
ness of God, and then himself disobeyed, — " Alas,
my brother!'*

What more melancholy than the fall of one so great
— BO wise ? What words could have been spoken to
him more powerful than his own ? What eloquence
could describe his fall with more feeling and beauty
than his own words? What could more powerfully
paint the loveliness of that holiness from which he
fell ? What the overpowering sweetness of that Divine
love which he was contented to give up to feed on
ashes? Who can describe the temptations to those
very sins by which he was ensnared in a more search-
ing manner than he has done ? Who can express as he
has done the vanity of all things else but the one thing
needful, which is keeping the commandments of God ?
Hath he not taught us unto the end of time how " the
path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day?" How hath
he "forsaken the guide of his youth, and forgotten
the covenant of his God ' ! " How hath he " gone to
the house that inclineth unto death, and her paths
unto the deadM" How hath he been as one that

y Prov. ii. 17. • Prov. ii. 17, 18.

soLOMOir. 221

" knoweth not that the dead are there ; and that her
guests are in the depths of hell'!*' How hath he
been " holden with the cords of his sins,*' till " his
own iniquities " have taken him away *! Tea, the fools
themselves of his own Book of Proverbs shall take up
a taunting proverb against him and say, " Art thou
also become weak as we P art thou become like unto
us*?" How must his own sweet and divine words
sound to him like music of Paradise to the lost
spirits, yea, as songs of Heaven would come back
to fallen angels in sad remembrance ; of "the eyes of
the Lord pondering the ways of men ', of doing with
our might our appointed task, " for there is no work,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave ;'* of " God
bringing every work into judgment *.*'

It is very awful to think how God may use men as
instruments of good, that His Spirit may teach them,
and through them teach others, and guide them to
the living fountains of waters, yet they themselves at
last fail of the prize of their high calling. What a
warning for fear; yet even so it was that St. Paul
himself, who had been taken up into the third Heaven
and there heard unspeakable words, might have left
us those treasures of Divine wisdom, yet been himself
a cast-away ; and so it would have been if he had not
kept his body in subjection.

» Prov. ix. 18. ' Prov. v. 22.

* Isa. xiv. 10. * Prov. v. 21.

^ Eccles. ix. 10; xii. 14.

SERMON XIX.

ELIJAH.

Jambs t. 17*
^ Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are."

Thehe is something very wonderful about the history
and character of Elijah : it seems hardly like that of
other men: his being sustained by ravens; his tra-
velling forty days without food, after the cake given
him by an angel ; his being carried to Heaven in a
whirlwind; his appearing again at the Transfigura-
tion ; the intimations of his being the messenger of
Christ's coming ; his appearing and disappearing
amongst men, like an angel with messages from God,
according to that apprehension expressed by Obadiah,
** as soon as I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lord
shall carry thee whither I know not ;" his very name,
more like that of the angels — as Michael, Gtibriel, and
Eaphael, — Elijah^ or God the Lord ; the expression he
applies to himself almost like that of a ministering,
spirit, " the Lord of hosts, before whom I stand ^ ;*'

1 1 Kings xriiL 12. !&•

ELIJAH. 223

his shutting up the Heavens over a whole country, so
that trees languished, beasts perished, birds drooped,
men looked up in desolation, at the voice of a man ;
his again opening the skies and raining down joy and
gladness ; the mode of his treating mankind, as if the
man were lost in the messenger of the Most High —
as to the widow of Zarephath who was dying of
hunger, he said, " Go and make me a cake first," thus
exercising and calling forth her extraordinary faith
and charity, like our Lord Himself was wont to do in
those for whom He wrought miracles. His standing
forth and claiming deference as a man of God, even
such, that to lay hands on him was to rise against God ;
" If I be a man of God, then let fire come down *," as
did that avenging fire on the two companies that
came to take him from king Ahaziah, the son of
Ahab ; his having mercy on the third, sparing him
and being gracious to him. Add too his casting his
mantle on Elisha, his acceptance of him and his words,
" if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall
be so unto thee." All these things, and his very man-
ner of speaking, are like those of one whose individual
character is lost in the messenger of the Most High.
And thus it is said of him in the Apocryphal Scrip-
tures, Elias " stood up as fire, and his word burned as
a lamp." An expression like that used respecting
angels, that He maketh His ** ministers as a fiame of
fire ;" not to allude to that of God Himself that He
is "a consuming fire*." "Blessed are they," it is
added, " that saw thee and slept in love *."

Thus then was there something as it were angel-like

> 2 Kings L 10. > Heb. i. 7 ; xii. 9.

^ Ecclus; xlviii. 1.

224 ELIJAH.

and Divine about one of whom St. James says, " he was
a man subject to like passions as we are ;" the word is
the same in the original as that which St. Paul uses
to those who would offer sacrifices to him as if he
were a God ; " we also are men of like passions with
you*.*' Even this Elijah then was like ourselves,
clothed about with this soul of human passions in the
regulation of which lies our mysterious probation ; he
was tried as we are, even as you and I have been :
thus by the circumstances of mortal life his faith was
exercised, tried, perfected; he might have become
like many others have done, might have become as
an evil spirit among men, a tempter, an apostate,
a seducer, a Balaam, a Oehazi, a Judas ; but by faith
be became what he was, till like as he changed at last
the garment of hair for the clothing of fire and the
whirlwind, so his earthly passions became Divine graces,
wrapping him around with Divine affections as with
the whirlwind and fiery chariot of the Spirit of God,
which lifted up his soul toward Heaven. If therefore
he was of like passions with ourselves, in like condi-
tion of trial, let us ask what that his character was.

The first mention of him is this, " And Elijah the
Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead ;" thus
he comes before us as a man like ourselves, he was
one of the inhabitants of that country, of Mount
Gilead, he was but as one among them ; no external
difference to put him apart. As the potter is at work
forming many vessels of the like clay, but one turns
out at last very different from others ; thus it is in
any country or neighbourhood, the hand of God is at
work, the Spirit is moulding souls \ one turns out a

' bfiotoiraOiif, Acts xir. ]5^ ' Jer. xviil 6.

XLUAH. 225

chosen veBsel for use or honour, while another k
rejected.

But we wish to know something more particular
respecting him, — what was his early life, his disposition,
his circumstances. Of these nothing is told us ; but
in this silence of Scripture respecting Mias we may
have this clue to guide our inquiries. So much is
said of Elias being as it were one with John the
Baptist, that we may reasonably infer that in their
whole course there was something similar, and perhaps
in their natural character also ; and this, as far as it
goes, is borne out by the history ; the outline of both
are alike, and what is wanting for the filling up of one
may be supplied by the other. Thus we hear nothing
of the birth and childhood of Elijah ; but we may infer
that he was as the Baptist, like one set apart ; that in
the wilderness, ^' the mountain of Gilead," he was
reared until his "shewing forth unto Israel;*' there
is a like solitude about his appearance as a prophet ;
no father or mother are mentioned, no child, or friend;
whereas even Elisha had his yoke of oxen, a father
and mother to bid adieu to, a servant G^hazi in
attendance on him, the sons of the prophets in con-
yerse with him ; but the mention of Elijah is at in-
tervals, as one appearing in peopled neighbourhoods,
no one knew from whence ; not as Jeremiah, not as
Moses, Samuel, and others ; but in the desert, on the
hill top — seen and recognized as by surprise in the
hairy garment of the prophet, the solitary of God, as
one without scrip or purse, even, it may be, as He who
had "not where to lay His head," having food to eat
which man wot not of. Thus it may have been, that in
the wilderness, in triak known to himself only, by the

<2

"226 :blijah.

secret communings of the Spirit of God was his faith
formed and nourished.

And again in character; — there appears in Elijah
something of that which is so peculiar in the holj
Baptist; reared in severity, mortified and separate
from the world, — and therefore so calculated to witness
against it,— yet there appears in John a singular gen-
tleness to others ; accommodating to their modes of
life with a considerate fellow-feeling for their infirm-
ities and temptations. Thus with Herod what sweet-
ness was there mixed with sternness, so that "he
heard him gladly," and " did many things " because
of that very Saint whom he shut up in prison. Thus
Ahab spoke of Elijah as " hast thou found me, O mine
enemy?" yet he complied at his warnings, made a
show of repentance, and " did many things because of
him.** And if the Baptist from the wilderness is
found in the palace of the king ; so Elijah girded him-
self as an attendant before the chariot of Ahab, and
hastened before him as the messenger of gladness
unto the city of Jezreel. And in like manner he
went without fear even into the palace of Ahaziah.

Thus was there in both the remarkable example of
perfect love that casteth out fear. In both the same
hatred of hypocrisy ; the same impatience of wicked-
ness in high places. And in the voice of the Baptist, —
saying to the Pharisees, O generation of vipers, who
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ?" —
we may discern that great Prophet who slew the Priests
of Baal by the brook Kishon. On one occasion indeed
we find in Elijah that which seems especially to mark
one " of like passions with ourselves,'* when the coun-
tenance of God seemed withdrawn and he was troubled.

ELIJAH. 227

We may not conclude that there was any falter-
ing of human infirmity in the Baptist when about
to meet death from Herodias, he sent, saying, " Art
Thou the Christ?" yet in outward appearance the
occasion might seem not very unlike that of Elijah ,
when he complained of Jezebel, " I only am left, and
she seeketh my life." But to say nothing of this,\
certainly the general impression we have of both is of
a wonderful combination of severity or self-mortifica-
tion with compassionate goodness ; as of the Law and
the Gospel meeting together, for both of them are as "
the Gospel veiled in the Law.

But the question is, in what respect Elijah is to be
an example to ourselves, so that although there may
be something in his history unlike that of other men,
yet he is set before us as one of like passions with
ourselves. Kow there is one point in which he is not
to be imitated by us; for when Jaipes and John
wished to bring down ''fire from Heaven as Elias
did " on a city of the Samaritans, because they re-
ceived not their Lord, He reproved them for so doing,
telling them that they knew not " what manner of
spirit" they were of '^.

But we are not to consider that the act referred to
was any fault in Elijah himself, for under the Law
such acts of zeal were highly commended of God ; as
St. Basil observes, speaking of Elijah, that " Moses
the meekest of men, in condemning the idolatry of the
golden calf, armed the Levites to slay their brethren ;
Phineas slew the fornicators, Samuel hewed in pieces
the king of Amalek, and Elijah in like manner slew
the eight hundred and fifty priests*." And we may

' St. Luke ix. 56. • St. Bas. Horn. xx. De ir&.

<J2

228 ELIJAH.

add that this is sanctioned in the Eevelation, where it
is said of God's chosen Witnesses of the last days, " If
any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their
mouth, and devoureth their enemies '." Moreover it
may he noticed, that as Elias is the great forerunner of
Christ, and Christ's comings are of two kinds, one in
salvation, the other in judgment, so in Elijah are set
forth the judgments of God in things not to be imi-
tated by us, as in his bringing the famine, in slaying
the prophets of Baal, in his causing fire to come down
from Heaven when Ahaziah the son of Ahab sent to
take him. All these things in him were most right-
eous and good, but they are rather of the whirlwind,
the earthquake, and the fire going before, than of that
" still small voice '* which afterwards spoke of Christ :
they are as it were streaks of fire that speak of His
last coming, they partake of the terrors of Mount
Sinai more than of the law of Pentecost written in
our hearts by the finger of God in the blood of Christ
Crucified ; for we are to be of the like spirit with Him
Who has now come, not to judge, but to save the
world.

There is also another point in the history of Elijah,
in which he is an example of something not to be
imitated but corrected by us; when despairing of
Israel he requested that he might die, failing as it were
in that charity which " hopeth all things," for God
had more in Israel than the Prophet knew of *.

But the one great point in which Elijah is our
example is that adduced by St. James. " Pray one for
another that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a

* Rev. xi. 6. M Kings xL 4. 14. 18.

ELIJAH. 229

man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed
earnestly." The one important lesson then from the
history of Elijah is prayer, effectual fervent prayer for
others, others in sin, that they may be saved. To this
we must add all our Lord's own promises and pledges
to us Christians, to whom the Spirit of supplications is
in Baptism given by Him who worketh great marvels, —
promises of effects which are no less than what was
miraculously shown in Elijah, that the prayer of faith
shall remove mountains, shall move the sycamore tree
from its place, that nothing shall be impossible to it,
that it shall do greater things than the miracles
recorded in the Gospels themselves. And the very
thing is stated of the Christian Witnesses in these
latter days, " These have power to shut Heaven that
it rain not *." We are not to shrink from this duty, as
persons of another kind from Elijah — we, we Christians
here this day are those to whom this appeal is made —
we are to be as Elijah in prayer ; not for destroying
sinners, but for their repentance, for bringing down
on their cold hearts the fire of the Holy Ghost, the
dews of restoration on the withered land. For thus
did Elias set forth in type more than he knew of, the
sacrifice of Christ, the prayers of the Church, the out-
pourings of the Spirit. We are not to despair for
others, but to pray without misgiving, without faint-
ing, till the hand shall at length appear arising from
the sea of this troublous life, and the little hand shall
become a great cloud, and the great cloud shall fall in
blessing '.

Of Elias's prayer that it might not rain we have St.

» Rey. xi. 6.

' See St. Aug. Do Heli&. Serm. de Temp. 201.

230 ^LUi.H.

James's account that " he prayed earnestly." Of his
prayer that the heavens might be again opened we
have the history itself. How strong in faith was that
prayer, when he said, " I hear the sound of abund-
ance of rain," before any token of rain had appeared !
And then at the sacrifice, and at the Mount Carmel,
how importunate, how persevering, how humble was
his prayer? "he cast himself upon the earth" in
his humiliation, " he put his face between his knees,"
he continued in prayer till his servant had gone and
returned seven times. He prayed and doubted not,
and for this reason and for the miracles thus wrought
by his prayers, he is to be the object of our especial
imitation.

In voluntary, but extreme poverty, wandering soli-
tary without either food or raiment, he was so rich in
the power of prayer as to have in his hands, as it were,
the keys of Providence. For this purpose, like the
Apostles themselves in our Lord's lifetime, he was
supematurally supported. "I have commanded the
ravens," " I have commanded the widow woman," said
Q-od, " to sustain thee."

When he prayed for the famine he despaired not ;
when he slew the priests of Baal he despaired not ;
when he called down fire on the two captains and
their companies he despaired not ; in all these cases
God was glorified, and there followed repentance and
mercy on HLis judgments; but when he fled from
Jezebel, and said that he only was lefb, he then
despaired. Tor this he was reproved. As was the
case with many of the saints of Scripture, his failure
was in that very point in which he was for the most
part singularly great, and gifted of God. Thus by his
strength and by his weakness, by praise and by

ELIJAH. 231

reproof, he inculcates alike this one lesson, to pray and
faint not ; however perplexed, not to despair, in pray-
ing for our finends, and especially for the Church of
God, — whatever appearances may be, not to give over.
Effectual fervent prayer availeth much.

SERMON XX.

AHAB.

1 Kings xxi. 25.

^ But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to
work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his
wife stirred up."

We may be sure that Scripture has somewise purpose
in holding up so much to our notice an account of the
wicked Ahab, that there is something in it calculated to
teach us the knowledge of ourselves and of the human
heart, and set before us in the person of a king, in
order to arrest our more particular attention. The
mercies of God shown to Ahab, and signal warnings,
chastenings intended for his correction, and prosperi-
ties to call forth his thankfulness, the knowledge which
he had of the true God, his understanding and feeling
of what was right, the memorials of good which were
given him in living examples, all these things make
the character one of great weight with regard to our-
selves. He had Elijah, one of the greatest of Prophets,
living in his time and country, and sent to deal espe-
cially with himself; we find incidentally that he had

AHAB. 233

even at his right hand a witness of God in the
faithfiil Obadiah ; like as his counterpart Herod had
of his own household, and his own steward's wife one
that ministered to our Lord. And by this Obadiah
numerous Prophets of God were protected. Add to
which, there was Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, who
gave him wise counsel and good example. There was
therefore no want of better knowledge on the part of
Ahab. There were signal miracles wrought for his
especial benefit. And even at last one Prophet of
God, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, had so often warned
him as to have incurred his settled hate as a messenger
of evil to him. Often reproved, he hardened his neck
till destruction came upon him without remedy. He
went on from bad to worse, he opened his heart more
and more to the returns of the evil spirit, till that evil
spirit entered in with seven others, and took his per-
manent abode within him.

The scene as it proceeds becomes crowded as it
were with living agents, for and against his soul ; with
Satan also in the background promising life where
God had warned of death ; obtaining leave to deceive
where he wished to be deceived, filling the mouths of
the false prophets to his ruin. Jerusalem on the one
side ; Tyre and Zidon on the other ; and behind the
veil Heaven and Hell.

Ahab too himself was one in whose soul there was
a contest between good and evil. He was not as one
that neither knew nor cared any thing for God, like
Jezebel ; as one that feared neither God nor man ; but
he had his misgivings, his miserable upbraidings of
conscience. It is more than once said of him, that he
"went to his house heavy and displeased," till the
gloom of his dark soul, like the groves in which he

234 ahab;

worshipped, became the resort of wicked spirits ; there
was the wish to do evil even when he had not the
courage to do it; conscience enough to make him
wretched, not enough to do what is right ; so that it
is said of him repeatedly that he " sold himself," that
is, that he gave up his better self in exchange for the
wages of wickedness. And what paved the waj to his
soid*s ruin was what is usual with such persons, that
he associated with others more wicked than himself ;
so that part of the description of him is "whom
Jezebel his wife stirred up :" by the company of the
evil wickedness became familiar to him ; his " way was
made plain with stones, while the end thereof was the
pit of hell *.'* Yet the care of God never left him,
although that care he never ceased to frustrate and
make void.

Let us then more particularly consider his history.
He comes before us as a king of Israel. Now Israel
had already fallen from God, and given up the purer
worship at Jerusalem, following " Jeroboam, the son
of Nebat, who taught Israel to sin," and proceeding
on that high road of declension ; the kings of Israel
were in consequence worse than the kings of Judah;
in this respect then Ahab the more strongly repre-
sents the great body of people among ourselves, who
by the sins of their forefathers or their own have
fallen from the highest and best privileges of grace ;
yet they have sufficient knowledge of God to rise, and
not to fall lower ; but they are for the most part con-
tent with this state, and to be no better than others
before them and around them ; and this necessarily
leads to their being worse. Thus we find it was with

^ ECCIUS. XXL 10.

AHAB. 235

Ahab ; the kings of Israel had fallen from God, yet
they knew far better than the heathen, but they went
downward in their course and united themselves to
them. Thus the first thing we are told of Ahab is
this, " as if it had been a light thing for him to walk
in the sins of Jeroboam, he took to wife Jezebel, the
daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians *." Now
this was a splendid and rich alliance ; Zidon was one
of the best known cities then in the world for its wealth
and merchandise; like Tyre, its merchants were princes,
the sea and all its riches were theirs. What therefore
follows from this union ? He married Jezebel, " and
went," it is added, " and served Baal, and worshipped
him." She came in with all the spirit and power of
the false gods, multiplied her priests through all the
land of Israel, made it to become even as the heathen,
and worse, for the knowledge of the true God existed
with the service of devils throughout the kingdom.

Now take away the outward circumstances by which
the trial of human souls is clothed, and the case is not
uncommon. Men who know God make themselves
one with people of the world on account of wealth,
station, or some worldly advantages, and thus the
course of their own souls becomes downward, and is
made easy. But though they are doing all they can to
forget God, He is not forgetting them ; He calls to
them, makes them to see His hand in mercy and judg-
ment, and visits them with fatherly chastisements.

Thus the next thing we read of in the history of
Ahab, is the famine brought on the land through the
prayers of Elijah on account of their idolatry ; and
this continued for three years and a half, the very

> 1 Kings xvi. 31.

236 AMXB.

space of time in which our Lord went about teaching,
and inviting the afflicted, seeking fruit for three years
of that tree for which He interceded that it might yet
be spared, while He dug about its roots. " I spake
unto thee in thy prosperity ; but thou saidst, I will
not hear;" but in adversity they will consider. "Is
Ephraim my dear son ? For since I spake against
him, I do earnestly remember him still*." Then
follows the long account of Elijah appearing before
Ahab, telling him the whole truth, summoning the
priests of Baal, making that solemn appeal to Heaven,
and bringing down fire on the sacrifice. Ahab is so
much relenting that he acquiesces in all this; he
appears as it were to take part in it ; he is, one might
almost think, reconciled to Elijah ; the Heavens are
opened, the Prophet is acknowledged, all is rejoicing,
all forgiveness and mercy. Ahab is gone up to eat
and drink ; his chariot is ready ; Elijah himself attends
him, and he enters Jezreel.

And now one might suppose that there is hope for
Ahab ; that his heart, as the dry land, will not receive
the grace of God in vain ; that there will be no more
halting between two opinions, between Baal and the
true God ; and so it might have been, were it not for
his evil marriage, and that he had taken a serpent
to his bosom. The account proceeds, "And Ahab
told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how
he had slain all the prophets with the sword *." Thus
does his heart turn back again to her and her gods ;
he does not protect Elijah from her fury, who had
done for him so great things ; whom he had seen with
his own eyes to be G^d's own miraculous messenger.

* Jer. xxii. 21 ; xxxi. 20. * 1 Kings xix. 1.

AHAB. 237

But AHab is not cast off of Qod ; He has yet other
mercies in store for him ; as if saying, " Surely he will
repent and turn." The human soul is very dear to God.
Ahab's heart is set on human greatness : well, that
also he shall have ; peradventure even yet he may be
won, that God may be gracious unto him. Look on
the map of Israel, there you will see Zidon on the one
side, with that he is married ; but on the other side is
Damascus, there is Benhadad, his powerful enemy and
the enemy of God. The hand of that king of Syria is
heavy on him, and his insulting boasts are against
Israel and Israel's God : and Ahab is chosen by God
to the high privilege of avenging His cause. And
Ahab knew full well that the faithfulness of the kings
and people of God was shown in cutting off those
whom they were commissioned to destroy. But he
has made friends for his own interest with the enemy
of God ; the King of Syria, whom he has overcome, is
sitting up with him in his own chariot; as it was,
" Jezebel my wife ;" so it is now, * My brother Ben-
hadad.' "

But now Ahab, by the mercies of God who is good
to the unthankful, is made rich ; the cities of Israel
which his father had lost are restored ; Damascus itself
owns his power. And with prosperity comes hardness
of heart, and covetousness, and next we read of the
vineyard of Naboth, and a deed known to all genera-
tions. At Jezreel, to which he was once led by the
Prophet of God amidst the miraculous blessings of
rain, in this very Jezreel Elijah must meet him again,
while Ahab receives him with the words, *^ Hast thou
found me, mine enemy ?"

However great may be his gains or possessioDS, it is
often for a trifling matter that a covetous man forfeits

238 AHAB«

liis soul ; as if Satan did it to mock him ; Ere for an
apple ; Judas for thirty pieces of silver : Esau his
birthright for a morsel of meat ; the rich king Ahab
for a garden of herbs. Possessing palaces and cities,
yet for a little spot of ground which could not lawfully
be his, he pined away in hea\iness and displeasure,
and fasted ; till he took part in the great wickedness
of his wife ; as Adam in the sin of Eve ; and the words
of God met him in the garden, " Hast thou killed and
also taken possession?" But the unspeakable
forbearance and graciousness of God! even on the
poor show of an imperfect repentance, He puts off
from him the evil day and withholds the rod.

At length we come to the final scene of this miser-
able man: he was as Saul in his latter days when
Gtod had gone from him ; he fears to ask counsel of
the prophet of God, as knowing what his conscience
foreboded of evil ; and in consequence makes himself
the prey of seducing spirits : and thus we find him in
going forth to his last battle in company with Jeho-
shaphat the king of Judah, deluding himself with the
multitude of false prophets, and avoiding the voice of
the true Micaiah the son of Imlah. Thus the word
of God becomes hated when it bears witness against
us. " For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved."

Indeed, one thing is observable in the history of
Ahab throughout, how much a self-deceiving conscience
seems at work in it all; his sin is ever as a ser-
pent that hides its head : it has some cloke or shelter,
rather than being of that open and bold character which
defies God : " heavy and displeased " he broods over
sinful wishes ; and is glad to reap fruits of that wick-

AHAB. 239

edness which he did not dare by himself to commit.
If the worship of Baal was introduced it was Jezebel's
doing, he might say, not his own ; if the prophets of
God were slain, if Elijah was persecuted unto the
death, it was his wife and not Ahab ; if Naboth was
slain by false witnesses, and under the pretence of a
religious fast, it was Jezebel's deed. If he goes forth
to the battle at Eamoth-Gilead, there is the same self-
deceiving hypocrisy ; he sits on his throne with the
king of Judah, and in a solemn and religious manner
has brought before him the prophets to consult them ;
but there is one prophet that he avoids, and only at
the requirement of the king of Judah will he meet
him, or face the Eye of God. But the character of
Ahab is not at all excused by all this ; this double
dealing with his own soul is the very thing which
Scripture condemns, as proving that there is not in
the heart the love of God. And what is the Scriptural
account of him ? " There was none like unto Ahab,
which did sell himself to work wickedness :" — " he did
more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than
all that were before him *."

Now in considering the character of Ahab, it may
be thought that he was so entangled in sin by having
Jezebel for his wife, that he might have* had great
difficulty in setting himself free and acting better;
and the like may be said of Israel itself in its subjec-
tion to her and her prophets of Baal ; but this miser-
able state, and the perplexities of sin, had been brought
upon themselves ; aAd after in vain waiting for their
repentance God will judge them for it. This sadly
instructive page of history is a glass held up to our-

* 1 Kings xvl 33 ; xxi. 25.

240 AHAB.

selves. If we receive not the love of the truth, we
shall become the prey of seducing spirits more and
more ; it will be no excuse for us that we have added
to our own temptations, and made a net for our own
feet. All this case is carried down to ourselves by
our Lord Himself in the Eevelation of St. John,
" These things saith the Son of Q-od, "Who hath His
eyes like unto a flame of Are : because thou sufferest
that woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess,
to teach and to seduce My servants ; behold, I will cast
them that commit adultery with her into great tribu-
lation, except they repent of their deeds ; and all the
Churches shall know that I am He which searcheth
the reins and hearts *."

Be infinitely careful of the dealings of G-od with
your soul; associate not with the wicked, for what
fellowship hath the temple of G-od with idols ? seek
not flatteries ; but open your heart to the prophet of
God ; his prayer may avail you much ; remember how
forbearing God has been to you on your weak shadows
of repentance, and what will He then be to you, if
you repent with your whole heart ? sell not that which
it hath cost the Blood of Christ to purchase for you ;
for what will it avail, if you gain the whole world and
lose your own soul ?

Further : we may notice that God never leaves men
in sin without a witness ; as God to Adam in Para-
dise; as Enoch and Noah before the flood: as Lot
to Sodom; as Melchizedeck was to the Canaanites;
as Moses to Pharaoh; as Samuel to Saul; as
Nathan and Gad to David in his sins ; as Isaiah to
Hezekiah ; as Elijah and Micaiah to Ahab ; as the

• Rev. iu 18—23.

AHAB. 241

prophets to Jerusalem before the captivity ; as Daniel
to Babylon ; as John the Baptist to Herod ; as our
Lord and His Holy Spirit to Jerusalem before its last
destruction; as the Christian Martyrs to Heathen
Borne ; so to this land now is the Church of God ; so
to every soul in every place there are witnesses and
calls of God. And thus on the Last Great Day " all
the Churches shall know " that Christ is " He which
searcheth the reins and hearts."

SERMON XXI.

ELISHA.

2 Kings ii. 9, 10.

^Aod Elisha said^ I pray thee, let a doable portion of thy
spirit be upon me.

*' And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing ; nevertheless, if
thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto
thee."

These words of the prophet Elijah and the fulfilment
of them may be considered as containing all the his-
tory of Elisha ; great as was Elijah in power of mira-
cles, far greater was his successor Elisha whom we
ever associate with him. But the occasion on which
the words were spoken, and the circumstances con-
nected with it seem to lead our thoughts to some
further figurative meaning in all that occurred to
Elisha. Elijah's being taken up to Heaven is an ob-
vious sign of our Lord's Ascension, by His own in-
dwelling Godhead; and before departing our Lord
declared to His disciples that if they believed in Him
after He had gone from them, if they saw Him risen,
they should have greater power than He had mani-
fested already among them: '' greater works than

ELISHi.. 243'

these shall he do, because I go unto My Father;"
" it is expedient for you that I go " that the Comforter
may come. "He shall glorify Me, for He shall
receive of Mine." Elisha then, with the mantle of
Elijah, seems to represent to us what our Lord would
be to those who live in the power of faith after His
Ascension ; what His Spirit is to us ; what He is to
us in His Church. The sons of the prophets were
still searching for Elijah on earth, but Elisha saw him,
it is said, ascended.

This will explain much to us. It appears that
when the temporal Israel was breaking down and fail-
ing, as the Prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah were
sent to speak of the Gospel ; so two successive pro-
phets in their life and actions were made to be full
of signification and Divine meaning, and then given
at the same time to represent Christ in His mira-
culous doings in His Church both before and after
His Ascension ; and in the latter case, in Elisha, with
a striking fulness of significancy and power ; his very
actions were made to be figures of Christ and to
exhibit the spiritual things of His kingdom.

Thus immediately after the ascension of Elijah, one
of Elisha' s first acts is that of healing the waters by
casting salt into them, that " there shall be no more
death or barren land," which seems at once to inti-
mate that after our Lord's Ascension, on the descent
of the Holy Spirit, by the preaching of the Word
which is the salt of the earth, and the waters of Bap-
tism, the curse of Adam, and the effect of the fall is
removed. The same may afford some explanation of
a mysterious circumstance which is mentioned shortly
after in the same chapter, that of the forty and two
children destroyed for mocking Elisha. Eor thus
b2

244 ELISHA.

when the Church was siarengthened by a greater
power, by the Holy Ghost, immediately we read of the
awful deaths of Ananias and Sapphira at the word of
St. Peter; and of Elymas the sorcerer being struck
blind * ; forcibly reminding us, that whosoever speaketh
against the Son of Man, i. e. of Christ seen in the
flesh and not known to be Qod, it should be forgiven
him; but whosoever should speak against the Holy
Ghost, it should not be forgiven him. For these chil-
dren may represent to us those that have been
admitted into Christ's kingdom. It was in the idol-
atrous Bethel, and these children no doubt spoke the
spirit and mind of their parents ; for they were the
''children of those that slew the prophets." And
their expression " Go up," and " Go up," might allude
in mockery to Elijah's having gone up to Heaven, as
if deriding not Elisha only, but Elijah ; as He that
speaketh against the Holy Ghost speaketh against
Christ, as seen no longer as the Son of Man only, but
ascended into Heaven. These then are " the scoffers
that shall come in the last days ;" — " cursed children,^*
as St. Peter calls them, *' who have forsaken the right
way *;" — children of Bethel, having fallen from the true
faith, and being therefore under the curse of the
Law.

Thus the life of Elisha may be considered by us as
a parable containing the Gospel ; his history itself is
like a prophecy. All his actions seem to contain
Christ in mystery ; but some of the more obvious may
perhaps be mentioned. Who, for instance, does not
at once understand the cleansing of Naaman, as exhi-
biting in a living manner the Gentile world coming to

» Aeti T. 10 ; xiii. 11. » 2 Pet il 14.

:elisha. 245

the Israel of God for Christian Baptism ? Our Lord
Himself in speaking of the call of the Gentiles refers
to it ; and in this light how full of instruction are all
its circumstances P We see the simplicity of the rite
in the words of the Syrian servants, " if the prophet
had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not
have done it P how much rather then, when he saith
to thee, Wash and be clean;'' in the flesh as a
little child out of leprosy, the type of sin, we recognize
the new birth ; and in Gehazi, the leprosy of the Gen-
tile cleaving to the covetous Jew and his " seed for
ever;" while in the very un worthiness of the messen-
ger, we are not without a sad warning for the Chris-
tian minister.

Again ; take the restoration of the dead child ; the
explanation given of old commends itself to one at
once; first he sends his messenger with the staff;
thus our Lord before He came by His servant sent
the Law, but it " could not give life ;" then He came
Himself " in the likeness of sinful flesh '," made con-
formable unto death; the living to the dead; He
made Himself small. He contracted as it were His
limbs to the limbs of the child of Adam ; full of sym-
pathies and compassions for us ; He breathed seven
times with the breath of His seven-fold Spirit ; until
the dead limbs became warm by His life and revived *.

We may add, what a beautiful allegory of Christian
love is there in that multiplying of the widow's oil ;
the widow being the Church of Christ ; the prophet's
injunction for the performance of the miracle, " When
thou art come in, shut the door upon thee," is like

• Rom. viii. 3.

* See St. Aug. yoI. y. Serm. xxvi. and cxxxvi. And St. Greg,
on Job ix. 35.

24i6 SLISHA.

our Lord's own command, that in faith we enter into
the closet, and shut to the door, and look to the eye
of Q-od in secret, the true Fountain of Love ; the oil
while it abode alone sufficed not for herself only, but
wasted away and the debt increased ; but when poured
into the empty vessels of all the neighbours it con-
tinued to increase ever more and more ; the more it is
expended on others, the more is itself augmented;
thus as love increases the debt grows small. Por
loving much hath much forgiven. Of this kind is the
explanation of St. Augustine '.

With regard to the double portion of the spirit
of Elijah which was, according to the promise, to
rest on Elisha, it is observable, not only that the
miracles recorded of Elisha are double in number
those of Elijah; there being twelve of Elijah, and
twenty-four of Elisha; but there is a greatness, a
majesty about them; a facility manifested in their
performance, an absence of effort; they are often
through the instrumentality of others: he is among
the companies of the prophets ; they " bow themselves
to the ground before him*,'* he sends them on his
embassies of power and mercy. Elijah anoints Hazael
king, but Elisha sends one of the children of the pro-
phets to anoint Jehu. He speaks too with more autho-
rity, as in his message to Naaman the Syrian Captain ;
and in his stern address to the King of Israel. " And
Elisha said unto the King of Israel, What have I to
do with thee ? Get thee to the prophets of thy
father, and to the prophets of thy mother." . - . " As
the Lord of hosts liveth before whom I stand, surely,
were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat

< Serm. De Temp. 206. * 2 Kipga ii. 15.

EJilSHA. 247

the King of Judah, I would not look toward thee nor
see thee^." And then a minstrel plays before him
and he prophesies. He had ministered unto Elijah \
but others minister to him. Thus in multiplying the
widow's oil the miracle is like that of Elijah, but he is
not like Elijah, a poor suppliant, himself having no
where to lay his head. Still more so is it in raising
the dead child; the same miracle is performed by
both in the same manner, but there is the like differ-
ence of character. The rich Shunammite " bows her-
self to the ground" before Elisha. "He said to
Gehazi his servant. Call this Shunammite. And when
he had called her, she stood before him. And he said
unto him, Say unto her, wouldst thou be spoken for
to the king, or to the captain of the host ?"

Moreover he exemplified the boldness which was
seen in Peter and John and all the Apostles after the
day of Pentecost, so unlike what they had been before,
when St. Peter had trembled at a woman ; as Elijah
in fleeing from Jezebel. Thus it is said of him in the
Apocryphal Scriptures, "Eliseus was filled with the
spirit of Elias; whilst he lived, he was not moved
with the presence of any prince ; no word could over-
come him V

And again, there was set forth in Elisha a kind of
spiritual knowledge, which seems to express the Spirit
of Christ in His Church, the heart-searching God.
Thus he says to Gehazi, " went not my heart with
thee?" And thus it is said to the king of Syria,
"Elisha the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the
words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber '*." So

7 2 Kings iii. 14. * 1 Kings xix. 21.

* Ecclus. xlviii. 12. ^^ 2 Kings vi. 12.

248 XLIBHJL.

likewise does he speak to Hazael the Syrian Captain
as knowing his ** thoughts long before ;" for the pro-
phet knew his designs before he knew them himself '.

Further ; these considerations will illustrate a sort
of resembUnce which is obserrable between some of
the miracles of Elisha and those of Elijah. ** The
works that I do," says our Lord, " shall he do also ;
and greater works than these shall he do, becaose I
go unto my Father '." Now this is what we find sha-
dowed forth and represented in Elisha ; his works are
greater than those of Elijah, as our Lord in His
Church does greater things than He did before His
Ascension ; and not only this, but at the same time
there is a sort of resemblance between them ; as if
exemplifying those our Lord's words, '* the works that
I do shall he do also." By both there is a dead child
raised to life ; by both a poor widow is supematurally
sustained ; in the case of both there is a sore famine
on Israel relieved by a great and sudden change.
Thus Elijah and Elisha resembled each other.

And as Elisha is so remarkable a type or figure of
our Lord in His Church, so it would appear as if
some circumstances in his history were intended to
remind us of Christ by their resemblance to things
recorded of Him. For instance, do we not see like a
preparation for our Lord's two miracles of the loaves
in this? Barley loaves were brought to Elisha;
"and he said. Give unto the people that they may
eat. And his servitor said, What, should I set
this before an hundred men? He said again, Oive
the people that they may eat. So he set it before
them, and they did eat, and left thereof." And

1 2 Kings Yiii. 13. ^ St. John xiv. 12.

ELISH^ 249

so likewise his restoring the dead child represents,
says St. Augustine, our Lord Himself in mystery. Nor
did this resemblance cease with his life. As it is said
in Ecclesiasticus of Elisha, " And after his death his
body prophesied ' ;" that is, was made full of a divine
significance. For the dead man, who was cast into his
grave, coming again to life on his touching the dead
bones of Elisha sets forth very strongly that, " all in
Christ shall be made alive." " Together with My
dead body shall they arise."

Another remarkable incident may be mentioned in
the life of Elisha. Our Lord wept over Jerusalem at
the thought of the time when her enemies should cast
a trench about her and lay her even with the ground ;
and how much it resembles this account of Elisha.
"The man of God wept. And Hazael said, Why
weepeth my lord ? And he answered. Because I know
the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel :
their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their
young men wilt thou slay with the sword *." This
tenderness too in Elisha marks him as of one and the
same spirit with Elijah ; — to say nothing of that common
bond of strong afiection between the two, as seen in
Elisha's cleaving to Elijah so that he would not let
him go, and his lament at his loss.

Now, my Christian brethren, what a beautiful sig-
nificancy ia there in all this ? not only do the Prophets
prophesy of Christ, and the Psalms sing of Him, but
His saints also by their very lives are made to speak
of Him. Not only has our Lord condescended to take
upon Him our nature, and to be as it were one of us,
but also to make other men to be like Himself in the

' Ecdus. xlvili. 13. ^ 2 Kiugs viii. 12.

250 SLISHA.

incidents of their lives, and thus likewise to preach
His Spirit and power amongst men. Like Elijah is
Christ gone up to Heaven ; like Elisha He is with us
still with a double power. And yet in one sense is
He in both alike, for both are made to resemble each
other ; our Lord in the synagogue at Nazareth speaks
of both of them together as prefiguring Himself in
calling the Gentiles ; He reminded them that Elijah
was sent to the widow of Sarepta; to Elisha came
Naaman the Syrian *. And we may observe that of
both Prophets alike at their departure the same
remarkable words are used, " My father, my father,
the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof®.'*
Thus as a branch on a tree sometimes represents the
form and structure of the tree itself on which it grows,
so do individuals that are in Christ exhibit Christ
Himself.

On some occasions indeed Elisha seems like as if he
were acting a visible representation, or drama, of some-
thing that is to be a living Christian truth by the
power of faith. As for instance, when surrounded by
an armed host he opened his servant's eyes. " And
his servant said unto him, Alas, my master ! how shall
we do ? And he answered, Eear not : for they that be
with us are more than they that be with them. And
Elisha prayed, and said. Lord, I pray Thee, open his
eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man, and he saw: and, behold, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round
about Elisha \" What was this but setting before
pur eyes that engaging Christian truth that, as St.

< St. Luke iy. 26, 27. ® 2 Kings ii. 12 ; xui. 14.

f 2 Kings vi. 16—17.

|:lisha. 251

Paul says, we " are come unto Mount Sion, and an
innumerable company of angels;" that as twelve
legions of angels were ready to aid Christ when His
enemies approached, " the angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear Him ? " And then imme-
diately afterwards the enemies are made blind and led
by the Prophet into the midst of Samaria ; and when
thus taken captive, not destroyed nor injured, but their
eyes are opened, and they are received with welcome
and with provision of bread. What a lively teaching
of Christ is there in all this! Of Him Who hath
come " that they which see not might see ; and that
they which see might be made blind;" Who hath
received us Gentiles walking by faith and not by sight;
Who when we were enemies by wicked works, hath
not punished, but laden us with t le abundance of
His house, and received us as guests at His table.

Thus in the histories of Elijah and Elisha are our
thoughts raised above the common things oP this our
daily life, and led to the contemplation of the wonderful
things of Christ, to the wonders that He doeth fop
those that live by faith, to realities of more lively
interest than all our highest hopes and aspirations.
And in Elisha especially, who sets forth the double
portion, we see our Lord Himself, speaking to us in
all that is recorded in one of His prophets of old ; as
if thereby saying, " If ye see Me ascended, if in heart
and mind ye are ascended with Me, ye shall partake of
My power at the right hand of God ; in My Church
which is united in love is My mantle without seam, in
it ye shall do greater things than ye have seen Me do,
and nothing shall be impossible to you."

Now this marvellous history of Elisha is such as is
full of interest for a child ; like a tale of great wonders ;

25^ ELISHA.

and we learn from Scripture that the wisdom of
children is often nearer the wisdom of God than
that of grown men; and we have often, as we
grow older, to go back and learn of childhood. We
are brought by the Gospel into a spiritual world which
is full of things great and wonderful beyond concep-
tion, such as eye hath not seen nor ear heard. To
these we have to raise our minds continually; no
imaginings of a child can reach these realities of God ;
but it opens the way to that child-like faith which
makes things to be true which it believes. Divine
child-like love "hopeth all things and believeth all
things," and can do all things through Christ strength-
ening. But it must ever be accompanied with rever-
ence and godly fear, or, like the children who mocked
at the Prophet "going up," instead of seeing him
ascend in faith, it will bring down its own destruction,
not a double portion of blessings.

SERMON XXII.

HEZEKIAH.

2 KiKOS xviii. 5.

^ He trusted in the Lord God of Israel ; so that after him was
none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were
before him."

Thebe is much to make us thoughtful in what we
read of the good king Hezekiah. Succeeding his
father Ahaz and coming before his son Manasseh, both
of them among the most wicked of the kings of Judah,
he himself has the especial praise of God ; and his life
exemplifies wherein the safety lies, and wherein the
dangers of good men. In the first month of his reign
he commenced opening and repairing the house of
God, and from thence he proceeded to the extirpation
of idolatry throughout his kingdom ; and all this so
earnestly and sincerely that it is said of him, that " in
every work that he began in the service of the house
of God, and in the Law, and in the commandments to
seek his God, he did it with all his heart ^" Thus

> 2 ChroD. xxxi. 21.

254 HEZEEJAH.

becoming " strong in the " strength of " the Lord," as
his name imports, he prospers in all his ways, and casts
off the yoke of the king of Assyria. But some years
after this same Sennacherib, Israel being now carried
away captive, and all the fenced cities of Judah being
taken, comes against Jerusalem, and Hezekiah by a
great ransom, for which he spoils the house of God,
and cuts off the gold from the doors and pillars of the
temple, purchases peace. But this hollow truce, while
it renders apparent the weakness of king Hezekiah,
does not succeed ; for shortly after Sennacherib makes
that great and memorable invasion to besiege Jerusa-
lem. And here, as in contrast to the former human
means which he had taken, Hezekiah has recourse to
God. " Be not afraid," are his words, " for the king
of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him."
" "With him is an arm of flesh ; but with us is the
Lord our God *."

It has been often observed that man's helplessness
is God's opportunity ; that when things are humanly
speaking most hopeless God interferes. The reason of
this may be in great measure owing to the power of
prayer, which is wont to be most importunate, perse-
vering, and earnest in the season of such need, when
man has nothing in himself to trust to. It is not
distress merely, but the prayer of distress which brings
God so near. And now the faith of king Hezekiah,
confirmed and nourished by all his former works of
religion in restoring the pure worship of God, was to
be tried. It is one of those signal instances recorded
in Scripture of faith strengthening itself by seeing the
Invisible ; hoping against hope, and trusting in God

> 2 Chron. xxxii. 7> ^*

HEZEEIAH. 255

for that which nothing but Almighty power could
bring about. Instead of the costly ransom as before,
or numbering of armies, we read " Hezekiah received
the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it ;
and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord and
spread it before the Lord'." Another more brief
account is this ; " Hezekiah the king and the prophet
Isaiah prayed and cried to Heaven *." And the result
is, " Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote
in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore
and five thousand."

This remarkable deliverance is one of the most
extraordinary events in the history of the world; and
is related in three distinct places of Scripture, in the
Kings, and the Chronicles, and in the prophet Isaiah ;
recorded for the example of all ages, when the
need of assistance is great, and all human help fails.
Such is ever the case with the human soul ; besieged
by the armies of darkness and warring with the prin-
cipalities and powers in high places ; when there is no
salvation but that which is of God, and such deliver^
ance brought about by faith and earnest prayer.

The other circumstance most memorable in the his-
tory of Hezekiah was the lengthening of his life, and
the sign that was given him of the sun going back, in
consequence of his prayer; when humanly speaking
and without a miracle, according to the word of the
prophet Isaiah, he would have died. The sign indeed
of the sun going back in his course may appear the
greatest miracle of the two ; but thus was it shown
.that as '^ the sun knoweth his going down," so man

> 2 Kings xix. 14. * 2 Chron. xxxii. 20.

256 HEZEEIAH.

also, as the suns and days of this world, hath his
appointed time ; both are alike in the hand of G-od ;
both are but the shadows of that true life which is
with Him, the light that goes not down.

Here arises a question, how far it would be right, if
we were apparently at the point of death, to pray that
our life might be prolonged ; and so also when those
who are dear to us are in immediate danger of death ;
how far is it wise to pray that they may live ? Cer-
tainly such a prayer should only be made with great
caution, and submission to the Divine will, lest it
might be that we love our own life, or the life of our
friends more than the will of God; and so in our
human infirmity we should bring evil upon us and not
good ; or derive a less blessing instead of a greater
one which God in His love had designed for us ; that
life may be granted to our prayers, when it would have
been better for us to die. Thus we may observe in
our own Prayer Book, in the Visitation of the Sick, there
is no prayer for the prolonging of life. In the case of
the good king Hezekiah we see the wonderful power of
the effectual prayer of faith. This is a lesson to us of
infinite value. But there is in the whole circumstance
something mysterious which we cannot fully explain,
and we are not told that the object of that prayer
was altogether acceptable or the best. The account is
this, " In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.
And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, came unto
him, and said unto him. Thus saith the Lord, Set
thine house in order ; for thou shalt die, and not live.
Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and
prayed unto the Lord." To which it is added,
<< Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying.

.HEZEEIAH. 257

Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, I have
heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears ; I will add
unto thy days fifteen years'." It would appear then
that it would have been God's will that he should
have died at that time, had it not been for that prayer;
and God may have so determined it in consequence of
foreseeing some evil approaching, or some danger that
would arise to the good King Hezekiah from the
lengthening of his days. And although these evils
may have been in some way lessened by the Almighty
power of God, and turned into good, yet they may
not have been altogether averted. Eor instance ; the
great misery which hangs over the memory of the
good Hezekiah is this, that he was the father of that
wicked king, Manasseh, who beyond all others pro-
voked God to anger, and overwhelmed Jerusalem in
destruction. But now it appears that this his son
Manasseh was not bom till three years after King
Hezekiah recovered from that sickness. If then he
had died at that time it would have saved him from
this great calamity.

I^or is this all ; for it was after that sickness, and
apparently in consequence of his recovery from it, that
Hezekiah fell into that sin which brought upon him
the judgments of God. It is thus spoken of in the
Book of the Chronicles in ecnmexion with that his
miraculous restoration. '^ In those days Hezekiah
was sick to the death, and prayed unto the Lord;
and He spake unto him, and He gave him a sign.
But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the
benefit done unto him ; for his heart was lifted up ;
therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah
and Jerusalem'."

' Isa. xxxviii. 1 — 5. ' 2 Chron. xxxil 24, 25.

259

with the rojal Penitent,

ban coming unto him said,

itm who, when he saw his

• and wept bitterly;" so now

" Notwithstanding," says the

ibled himself for the pride of

the prophet Jeremiah it is

! stance of humiliation on being

Hezekiah king of Judah fear

iit the Lord, and the Lord re-

[ which He had pronounced*?"

u; ix)d king on receiving the terrible

Uremely touching and beauti^.

unto Isaiab, Good is the word

'hou. haat spoken. And he said,.

M!ice and truth be in my days*?"^

; the extremity of his distress, arose

be the Name of the Lord ! " As

flwful sen ten ee which Samuel had

fii, tiaid, " It is the Lord ; let Him do

lim good/^ So now does the good

i.L manner love that hand which was

lii&h him J and in seeing and loving

V in that severe chastening than

4i in their proBperity,

'iii again pause to reflect on this in-

How wonderfully do all things

t>T good for them that love God. " O

riches both of the wisdom and know-

IHow unsearchable are His judgments,

past finding outM" We might have

itiU 26>

• Jer. xxvi. 19.

* Rom. zi 39.

B 3

258 HEZEKIAH.

It is indeed a very sad truth that persons are seldom
rendered better by sickness; and even miracles do
not change the heart. Out of ten lepers that were
cleansed at our Lord's word, one only returned to
give thanks to his Deliverer. For it was soon after
Hezekiah's sickness that there came ambassadors from
the King of Babylon to congratulate him on his reco-
very ; the Babylonians, or Chaldeans, being great ob-
servers of the stars, they came it appears also to inquire
respecting the miraculous sign which had occurred
of the sun going back ten degrees. As it is said,
" Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the
princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of
the wonder that was done in the land, God left him,
to try him, that He might know all that was in his
heart ^.'* Like David when he numbered the people,
glorying in the multitude of his armies, so Hezekiah
showed them all his treasures. The strength of He-
zekiah like that of David had been his trust in God ;
but now it is in his own riches. " For God," it is
said, "had given him substance very much." He
" had exceeding much riches and honour." Oh, how
miserable is the glory of this world ! Oh, how poor are
the best things it has to bestow, so that it were far
better for us not to have them at all, unless in having
them we are as if we had them not ! For then came
by the Prophet Isaiah the heavy burden of God's
judgment, that all those his treasures and his children
should be carried captive to Babylon.

But it is fuU of the deepest interest, and very con-
solatory to observe in the failings of good men, that
they continue not in sin, but immediately and tho-

' 2 Chron. xxzii. 31*

HEZESIAH. 259

roughly repent. So was it with the royal Penitent,
who on the prophet Nathan coming unto him said,
** I have sinned ;" so with him who, when he saw his
Lord's look, " went out and wept bitterly ;" so now
with King Hezekiah. " Notwithstanding," says the
account, " Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of
his heart'." And in the prophet Jeremiah it is
referred to as a signal instance of humiliation on being
reproved. "Did not Hezekiah king of Judah fear
the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord re-
pented Him of the evil which He had pronounced* ?"
The very words of the good king on receiving the terrible
tidings of woe are extremely touching and beautiful.
" Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word
of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said,.
Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days* ?'*
As Job, on seeing the extremity of his distress, arose
and said, " Blessed be the Name of the Lord ! " As
Eli on hearing the awful sentence which Samuel had
feared to tell him, said, " It is the Lord ; let Him do
what seemeth Him good." So now does the good
Hezekiah in like manner love that hand which waB
stretched out to punish him ; and in seeing and loving
God has more joy in that severe chastening than
worldly men have in their prosperity.

And here let us again pause to reflect on this in-
teresting history. How wonderfully do all things
work together for good for them that love God. " O
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and know-
ledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judgments,
and His ways past finding outM" We might have

» 2 Chron. xxxii. 26. • Jer. xxvi. 19.

1 2 Kings XX. 19. > Rom. xi. 33.

8 2

260 HEZEEIAH.

supposed that; all tliis great evil had been brought on
Hezekiah when Gk)d hj His prophet had said he
should die, and he prayed for longer life; yet who
shall say that the evil outweighed and counterba-
lanced the good ? "Who shall say that a good man by
his prayers could make a net for his own feet ? it may
be so, yet God, in delivering him from the same, may
strengthen him yet the more, set his feet upon a rock
And order his goings, and put a new song into his
mouth, even the song of the Lamb. " Thy right hand
«hall hold me up, and Thy loving correction shall
in£^e me great '."

If we have in our hearts desires and prayers that
are not after Gk)d, we have reason to fear lest G-od
should answer us according to those our desires and
prayers. But His mercies are so great, that He has
compassion on these our infirmities, and answers us
not according to our own desires, but according to
His own love. Eor it is indeed most pleasing to Him
that we should pray to Him for all things, not only
for the highest and best, such as our own eternal
happiness and the life with God; but also for the
lower wants of our human life and the objects of our
natural desires ; and so great is His goodness that He
is often pleased with such prayers and in answer to
them gives not merely the precise objects we pray for,
but something better instead, something that we
shall in the end value infinitely more. But at the
same time if we pray for human things God may give
them us, when it would have been His wish that
we should have loved and prayed for objects more
worthy. Yet to turn to Him always is good ; He sees

* Ps. xTiiu 35.

EEZEKIAH. 261

US seeking other things than Himself, and pities us,
and gives us even these weak desires that they may
become to us greater good. How good is God!
May He give us to desire and pray for what is best ;
or, may He answer our prayers not according to our
own desires, but according to His own great goodness.
Or He may blend them both together and convert our
own weak human desires to His own high purposes
infinitely great and good. Thus was it with the
prayer of Hezekiah; if the wicked King Manasseh
was bom to him because he asked for the lengthening
of his days ; yet also by the same means may it have
been brought about that Christ should be bom of his
lineage ; for Hezekiah, together with his son Manasseh,
is numbered among the fathers of Christ according to
the flesh *.

Moreover, if after his sickness Hezekiah fell into
sin, yet, as we have seen, his humiliation and repent-
ance was great ; and his faith thereby strengthened to
do great things by the power of prayer. He was
taught by bitter experience not to trust in himself but
in the Living God ; and thus not only to be numbered
among the Saints of God ; but also with those great
penitents, as his father David, and St. Peter the chief
of Apostles, and St. Paul of Christian teachers;
to whom it was given to know that there is no true
life but in the atoning Blood of Christ.

"When Hezekiah with the riches of the temple
bought off Sennacherib, and when he showed his trea-
sures to the ambassadors from Babylon, the fault in
him that needed correction may have been the same,
that he relied on such things more than a good man

* According to the lineage in St. Matthew. See St. Matt. i. 10*

262 HEZEKIAH.

ought to do. His faith in God required correcting,
purifying, enlarging. And it is to be observed that
although in the Bible the account of the destruction
of Sennacherib's army is given before the sickness of
Hezekiah, yet in point of time it is supposed by some
to have occurred afterwards. And if so, that prayer
of faith which overwhelmed the Assyrian armies was
after his humiliation.

And it may be that the mystery of that circumstance,
sentence of death having gone forth from God, and
then recalled by his prayer, consisted in this, that
therein is signified the death of Christ and His resur-
rection ; that the strength of this good man was owing
to his thus being by a sort of figure and resemblance
united with Christ crucified; he had done much in
restoring the worship of God, he spoke of the good he
had done, but at the door of death he had a lesson to
learn of greater perfection than any to which he had
attained, and this was granted to his prayers. It was
the power of Christ's resurrection which he had to
learn. " I will hear thee in the time of trouble, and
thou shalt praise Me." It was that which St. Paul
had to practise daily. " We had sentence of death in
ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in
God which raiseth the dead *."

blessed wisdom of the grave, to be learned by
being with Him " Who offered up prayers with strong
crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him
from death, and was heard in that He feared *." " I
have walked," said Hezekiah, "before Thee with a
perfect heart '," but in that confession there was no

» 2 Chron. i. 9. • Heb. v. 7.

7 Isa. xxxviii. 3.

HEZEEIAH. 263

peace, no rest; and the sentence of death was upon
him ; for he knew not as yet that there was no per-
fection in man but in deeper humiliation at beholding
the Crucified ; but in that after and second life, when
" on the third day he went up unto the House of the
Lord," in that new covenant respited from the second
death, he came to understand how weak is man and
how strong is God. "After two days," saith the
prophet Hosea, "will He revive us: in the third
day He will raise us up, and we shall live in
His sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to
know the Lord •.'* Oh, let not the pride of life, nor
the riches of this passing world, nor apparent secu-
rity, wrest away the heart again or lead it to forget
that hour when eternity knocked at the door ! Alas,
that aught again should loosen that hope, the anchor
of the soul ; should dim that vision of peace, which
in the sun that is stayed in its going down hath
the pledge of redeemed life. O blessed lesson, to un-
learn this life, and to learn that better life which is with
God ! And happy the penitent who as qne alive from
the dead is at the feet of his Deliverer, of Him Who
hath the keys of death and of hell ! Yet a little while,
and " thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall
thy moon withdraw itself ; for the Lord shall be thine
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall
be ended V

» Hosea vi. 2, 3. » Isa. Ix. 20.

SEEMON XXIII.

JOSIAH.

2 Chron. xxxiv. 27.

** Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself
before God, when thou heardest His words against this place,
and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself be-
fore Me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before Me ; I
have even heard thee also, saith the Lord."

When the ten tribes of Israel had been carried awaj
captive, and the like judgments were drawing on upon
Jerusalem, there were two remarkable kings, Hezekiah
and Josiah, both described in much the same language
as walking in the ways of their father David, both as
pre-eminent above all other kings before and after.
"We read of both labouring to restore the worship of
God, to destroy idolatry, both keeping a great pass-
over, both accepted of God, but unable to avert His
coming wrath &om Jerusalem. But in Josiah there
is something peculiarly affecting : his early youth, for
" in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet
young," i. e. but sixteen years of age, " he began to
seek after the God of David his father * :" the extreme

^ 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3.

JOSIAH.

265

ace and darkness which had overwhelmed the
aoa ; for the finding of the Book of the Law in the
Dple, Beeras to have been a great discoyerj as of
aething altogether forgotten and lost ; his exceed-
zeal aud earnestness in instantly doing with his
pTrbole heart whatever he knew to be right ; but in all
^flnd above all his singular tenderness of spirit. Such
is seen in his consternation on learning the contents
of the Book of Moses that was found ; and his send-
ing in consequence to inquire not of priest, or pro-
phet, or scribe, for he seems to have known of none
to send to, but to "Huldah the prophetess, the wife
of Shallum, the keeper of his wardrobe." A woman,
the youthful king, and her answer to himself from
God in the words of the text are very expressive ; and
may serine to afford us a sad description of the state
of the age in which they were spoken ; and they also
fiimiah U3 briefly with the whole character of Josiah.
He waa so tender of heart, that he humbled himself
and rent his clothes and wept — not for his own sins —
but for those of his forefathers and his people; he
thus humbled himself and wept before God, and
trembled on account of God's words. beautiful
spirit of sacred sorrow, so richly fraught with the
BBing of them that mourn !
. strong contrast to this we have a circumstance
oned of his son Jehoiakim, in the prophet Jere-
the word of God was sent to him by the pro-
"80 the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll.
Jehudi read it in the ears of the king. And
, he had read three or four leaves the king cut it
, the penknife and cast it into the fire that was
i hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the
that was on the hearth. Yet they were not

266 JosiAH.

afraid, nor rent their garmenta, neither the king nor
any of his servants that heard all these words*."
In this remarkable instance there was a sure token of
God's heaviest judgments coming on because they
feared not His words ; and so likewise in the case of
this good King Josiah, because he feared when he
heard the words of God, and took them home to his
heart with such grief and humility, he was gathered
into the sure protection and mercy of Almighty
God.

These words which he heard were those of Moses, —
the Book which he commanded to be placed in " the ark
of the covenant " to be "a witness against them*," —
words which we ourselves hear, and have heard ; they
speak to us as much as they did to him ; they speak
with the light of the Gospel filling every letter, so
that the very characters are fire and light : we are to
bind them about us so as to clothe as it were every
part of us ; to be a witness against us if we do evil.
Do we hear them with a like awe and humiliation ?
Alas, is it not the very character of our age that with-
out fear it takes on itself to judge God's word, rather
than be judged by it ?

But now it must be observed that all this goodness
of King Josiah and that of Hezekiah before him did
not prevent the destruction of Jerusalem ; they may
have delayed it, relieved it, and perhaps the remem-
brance of these good kings, and of that repentance
which they brought about, may have been connected
with the restoration of Jerusalem after the captivity ;
for the kingdom of Israel where there were no such
kings was never restored. But to all appearance

» Jer. xxxf i. 21-*24. » See Deut. xxxi. 26.

josiAH. 267

God's threatened judgment came on Jerusalem not-
withstanding all the intercessions and labours of the
good King Josiah. And not only this but under a
sense of that coming judgment and in that state of
things in which he was bom, Josiah had to sustain a
heavy burden all his days. And eren too unto his
death, for although God had promised him this one
thing only, that He would gather him to his grave in
peace; yet that did not save him from dying a
violent death, a death indeed in its circumstances very
much like that of the wicked Ahab. For in an un-
successful battle with the king of Egypt at Megiddo,
he was wounded as it were by an accidental hand, for
he had disguised himself in the battle, and was carried
home and died *. So that even in that which came
especially under God*s promise, as the Preacher says,
"there is one event to the righteous, and to the
wicked *."

Yet who could be in greater favour with God than
this good King Josiah, tender-hearted and humble, of
such a temper as the Holy Spirit chooses above all
others for His own ; of that meek spirit which is of
great price with God; how could He not set on him
the seal of His especial favour and love ? Some in-
deed consider his very name to signify the " sacrifice
of God." Such a character is meet beyond any to be
a sacrifice and a victim ; and as such in some faint
way to resemble Christ ; Who was a " man of sor-
rows," as " a root out of a dry ground ;" Whose days
were " cut oflf out of the land of the living ;" Who
made " His grave with the wicked :" Who wept over
that destruction coming on Jerusalem, which all His

* 2 Chron. xxxv. 22. 24. » Eccles. ix. 2.

268 JOsiAH.

calls to repentance and all His intercessions averted
not ; Who was eaten up by a zeal for God's bouse.
Nay, we are reminded of the day of Judgment itself
in the good King Josiah, when he came to Bethel,
where the idolatrous calves had been, but which now
had long departed together with that guilty nation
itself that worshipped them. He came and had the
graves opened, and men's bones burnt on the altar ;
and in those their graves made a distinction between
the righteous and the wicked. He had been called of
God for this purpose three hundred years before;
and the burden of this judgment was laid upon him
before he was bom *. As Cyrus designated by name
in prophecy as the " Shepherd' " of God's people, for
the restoration of the dry bones of Judah, so was
Josiah to execute His judgments, and even as it were
anointed and sanctified by His Spirit for this awful
type of the great Judgment. "I the Lord have
called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand,
and will help thee *." " I have called thee by thy
name, thou art Mine."

Thus did this blameless king labour to restore his
people, and they were willing " for a season to rejoice
in his light." Tea, thus did he strive to undo what
was done, and to expiate the evil of Israel even as it
were beyond the grave ; even the sins of Solomon ',
and the sins of Jeroboam ; yet as to himself did it
appear as if his candle were put out in obscure dark-
ness ; by a Pharaoh of Egypt slain, and by a Pharaoh
of Egypt his throne given away. The very Scripture
that describes all his goodness after declaring that

< 1 Kings xiii. 2. ' Isa. xliv. 28.

* Isa. xlli. 6. '2 Kings xxiii. 13.

JOSiAH. 269

there was none like Him, '' that turned to the Lord
with all his heart," yet adds to the account, " Not-
withstanding the Lord turned not &om the fierceness
of His great wrath."

Now a consideration of this, the holy and sweet,
yet awful and sad life of Josiah, may much correct
our view of human things; God declares that He
visits the sins of fathers upon their children ; it is so
throughout the Scriptures ; last Sunday * we read of
the seventy sons of Ahab slain by Jehu, as if they had
been guilty of some great crime, because they were
the sons of Ahab : we see it is so in the world ; and if
so it must be God's doing, because it is His world.
What is much more, we see righteous men bom to a
sad inheritance of woe; kings blameless and holy,
weighed down all their days by the sins of their fore-
fathers ; and again princes suffering for their people's
sins, and people for the sins of their princes. Tea,
more, the meekness and holiness of kings have made
them the more meet victims of suflfering : they have
been made on that very account to bear the heavy
burden. It may be that Satan sees upon them the
mark of Christ ; and therefore directs against them
all his assaults, but God through the Cross turns all
to good. Because they are holy they suffer ; and be-
cause they suffer they are made the more holy. Their
light indeed is put out ; and the world goes on as it
did before. But shall we say that they have lived in
vain ; for themselves, for their people, for their God ?
Surely this cannot be so. We know that the only
strength of the world is Christ ; and this the apparent
failure of good men, bears a resemblance to Christ.

^ Preached on the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.

270 JOSIAH.

He also bore the sins of others, not His own. He,
the Beloved of God, the strength of God, the Life of
the world, appeared as in weakness, and sorrow, and
cut off before His time prematurely as one that had
failed of his mission. It was said of good King J^siah
that he should go down to his grave in peace, yet
in one sense it was not peace, but a sword. Yet
when we put this by the side of Christ Crucified,
we may say surely that good king died in peace.
By dying he entered into peace, a peace-maker with
God, reconciling Him to His people, the sacrifice
of peace. He was taken from the evil to come ; he
died in peace; and while nothing but trouble and
anguish was on his people, he himself was with God.
" In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die ; and
their departure is taken for misery ; but they are in
peace '."

" The righteous perisheth," saith the prophet, " and
merciful men are taken away, none considering that
the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
He shall enter into peace ^" And his memory was
blessed. "The remembrance of Josiah," it is said,
" is sweet as honey in all mouths, and as music at a
banquet of wine ^" A solemn lamentation was written
of him by the Prophet Jeremiah, and singing men and
women commemorated and spoke of Josiah *. Nor is
this all that connects it with Christ Crucified ; for in
that memorable prophecy in Zechariah, where he speaks
of Jerusalem " looking upon Him Whom they have
pierced, and mourning as for an only son, every family
apart," he says that this shall be as the mourning for

a Wisd. ill. 2, 3. » Isa. Ivii. 1, 2,

* EccluB. xlix. 1. '2 Chron. xxxv. 15.

JOSIAH. 271

Josiah " in the valley of Megiddon." The mourning
for Christ Crucified is as the mourning for Josiah
slain . The shadow of that all-atoning death covers him.

We must not think then that Josiah failed, or that
such as he could fail in their life or in their death.
On the contrary, we are hereby taught with awe and
wonder to raise our minds to the greatness of their
crown, their strength that is among men, and their
reward that is with God. For of them the world is
not worthy ; they are the salt of the earth which pre-
serves it from corruption ; they are the light set on a
hill which cannot be hid; they shine like stars for
ever and ever giving light unto the world. The doc-
trine of Christ Crucified will teach us not to judge of
the success of such men by what appeared in their
lives ; it may be more precious and lasting than man
can judge of. Even in their temporal failure there
may have been a life and restoration from the dead in
that for which they laboured. "Thy work shall be
rewarded, saith the Lord ; and they shall come again
from the land of the enemy ; and there is hope in thine
end'." In the destruction of Judah there is hope,
but not in that of the nations. In like manner with
regard to ourselves, who can tell whether our having
the Church among us here at this day may not be
owing to some good king of this nation, who may have
lived and died as a martyr to the faith of Christ ?

Nor is the crown and the blessing of God which
awaits good men like King Josiah such as this world can
take account of: it is far too great and good for that ;
for their reward is with G^d ; such as eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, nor heart of man imagined. Their end

« Jer. xzzL 16, 17.

272 JosiAH.

and their beginning is with Christ in God. Througli
apparent failure they are purified and strengthened to
obtain that crown. And thus we may see in the
account of Josiah ; he humbled himself and wept at the
words found in the Book of God ; and when on sending
to Huldah the prophetess she entirely confirmed those
words, by saying that the judgments therein threat-
eiled on Jerusalem should not be averted, but should
in their awful fulness come on that people ; — the good
king did not on that account slacken his zeal and
exertions or sit down in despair; but immediately
'^ with all his heart and with all his soul " brought all
his people into covenant with God. He said not, It
is in vain to serve the Lord, for He has and He will
cast us ofi*. But he wrought a thorough and entire
repentance^through all his kingdom, both of Judah and
of Israel too, and left the issue with God.

And observe what was the praise of God which
marks this good king; perhaps no one in any age
or nation ever made so entire a reformation, and that
at so youthful an age as Josiah, both in the house and
worship of God in His Temple, and also through all
that nation, cutting off every root and branch that
remained of idolatry and profaneness, restoring all as
far as in him lay to obedience. Yet it is not this
which is mentioned as rendering him so acceptable in
the judgment of God ; but — " because thine heart was
tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God,
when thou heardest His words, and didst rend thy
clothes and weep." For it is not the outward actions
which God weighs, but the heart from which they pro-
ceed. It; is not so difficult to find works of religion
and charity as to find a humble spirit that fears God's
words. A contrite heart that reverences His word is

J08IAH. 273

with God the best sacrifice ; and as it is of such price
with God it is so verj rare amongst men. Measuring
himself not by what he had done, but by what he would
have wished to do, and by that love which is infinite as
the nature of God, he speaks not of his doings, but
oppressed with a sense of his short-comings, he puts
his hand on his mouth and is silent, or says, God be
merciful to me a sinner !

K any one might glory in works it were the good
Josiah ; for his works were especially those of religion,
such as had a direct reference to the service of God,
the restoring His Temple and worship, and this not
for mere external service, but accompanied with deep
calls to repentance, of which he himself set the most
lively example ; if therefore any had works on which
to rest his claim for Divine favour it was this righteous
king. It is not service that God requires, but ser-
vants ;— not service, for what can our service be to
Him ? — but servants whom He may love in Christ, on
whom He may bestow His love ; and they that tremble
at His word, who look to Him in tenderness of spirit,
these are the servants in whom He delights, as ready
for His service, and meet to receive His love.

In the history of all His saints He writes that no
flesh shall glory in His presence ; and in holding them
up for our example He reminds us of this, for there is
no one without fault either in life or condition. To
say nothing of the earlier patriarchs, Moses was not
altogether accepted ; Job, though a perfect man, is
known for his afflictions; Samuel had to mourn;
David was bowed to earth with his repentance ; Solo-
n\on grievously sinned; Hezekiah was not without
blame ; and Josiah's praise is that he humbled himself
and rent his clothes, and not this only, but his '' sun

T

274 JosiAH.

went down while it was yet day," and a nigbt of sorrow
came on its close.

One observation more. What light does the history
of Josiah afford us in our present perplexities ? The
revival of religion which has taken place in these days,
the restoration of the houses of God, and care of His
worship, together with calls to repentance and to the
ancient paths, and this too after a deep sleep and much
corruption and decay of faith, all this so far turns
our eyes to that pause in the declension of Judah.
Such a call may not be responded to, or may be
responded to for a time, and then the light go out ;
on all this it were needless and presiunptuous to
speculate ; but even if it were fruitless, and to end in
darkness yet worse than before, we are taught by the
history of this good king not to despair, not to give
over ; but it may correct and purify our views to know
what to look to. We are not then to congratulate
ourselves over much on the restoration of external
worship as if it were any worthy end or object in itself,
but rather to look to tenderness and humiliation of
heart before God ; let the other follow if it will, it is
of no value without this, but this of itself without that
is of value inestimable. Moreover, we see in this
history that no temporal prosperity, no personal or
national success, no setting up or saving of kingdoms
can serve as a test of God's acceptance : the matter is
of far too great importance for this ; — it is of eternity,
of Heaven and Hell, of dwelling for ever with God or
with His enemies ; of being united in life and in death
with One Whose life and death was in human eyes
covered with sorrow and shame.

SEEMON XXIV.

JEEEMIAH.

j£R. ix. 1, 2.

'' Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of
tears, that I miglit weep day and night for the slain of the
daughter of my people ! Oh that I had in the wilderness a
lodging place of wayfaring men ; that I might leave my people
and go from them 1"

I HATE chosen these words of the text as expressing
the character itself and life of the prophet Jeremiah.
He lived in the time of the good king Josiah ; both were
as children called of God ; and engaged in the same
work of reformation before the judgments came on
Jerusalem. The one sets forth the kingly, and the
other the prophetic office, which were both found
combined in Christ.

But Jeremiah not only represents Christ as a pro-
phet, but that peculiar designation of Him as such
which is expressed by Moses : " The Lord thy God
will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of
thee, of thy brethren, like unto me^" "Of thy
brethren," one peculiarly full of brotherly affections ;

* Deut. xviii. 15.
T 2

276 JEREMIAH.

and " from the midst of thee," i. e. " the Son of man,"
nay, the "man of sorrows," one in Himself all hu-
manity ; and yet more, " like unto me," even as the
meekest of men, as if to mark yet more strongly this
characteristic. Our Blessed Saviour was beyond all
men full of human tenderness, compassionate, such as
was represented by the living Body stretched upon
the dead; with limb answering to limb; the feeling
with the unfeeling; the warm with the cold; thus
was He full of sympathy with our infirmities, as alive
in every part with a fellow-feeling for us. He was
clothed all over, and compassed about on every side
with pity, such as one most tender-hearted amongst
mankind feels in the most intimate relations of life ;
as a mother, as a brother, as an husband. And this
rendered Him as a victim so full of sorrow and " ac-
quainted with grief," when He came to a people about
to be overwhelmed with the consequences of their
sins. " In all their affliction He was afflicted." In a
manner most intimate, deep, and penetrative, "He hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." We
might conceive it otherwise; God might have exe-
cuted His judgments, as a stem Judge, Himself un-
moved. But it is not so ; the Judge Himself bears
the heavy burden; and has made Himself one with
us that He might carry our griefs. Now all this
speaks to us through Jeremiah ; his natural character
was peculiarly suited for this ; he was chosen and
sanctified from his mother's womb for this purpose.
So that there was more meaning in it than they knew
who, when they saw our Lord's sufferings and com-
passions, said it was " Jeremiah *." Not only that it

St. Matt xvi. 14.

JXBEMIAH. 277

was " one of the prophets " arisen from the dead, but
especially mentioning Jeremiah.

It was, I observe, founded in the natural disposition
of Jeremiah, hallowed of Qod for this end before his
birth. " Before I formed thee in the belly," said God,
"and before thou camest forth out of the womb
I sanctified thee, and ordained thee a prophet'."
Hence his writings are marked especially with this
character throughout. Eor though these prophecies
are the Word of God speaking to us thereby; yet
they partake throughout of the prophet's own natural
mind. Like as the light of the sun falling through a
painted window; it is still the light of the sun
though it partakes of the colour through which it
passes to us. Thus Jeremiah is considered by the
ancients to be in the words of one of them, "the
most inclined to pity of all the prophets *."

The times in which he lived were exceedingly sad ;
his whole life was intimately connected vnth the ruin
and breaking down of the people of Israel, filling up
the measure of their iniquities, adding sin to sin, and
with it increasing their miseries and sorrows to the
last. The good king was cut off as too good for that
people, but the prophet remained. Jeremiah continued
with them throughout even to the last remnant that
was left in Israel, and afterwards with that remnant
doomed to judgment in Egypt. The King of Babylon
would have done him honour, and kept him in safety
and peace ; but he stayed behind, as if to the last dregs
drinking with them of their cup of sorrows. This
was of itself very mournful and distressing; but it
was that heart in Jeremiah so full of tender sym-

* Jer. L 5. ^ St Greg. Naz. Orat. zviL

278 JEBEMIAH.

pathies which increased the intensity of his sufferings.
It is therefore in this respect that he so especiaUj
brings home to us the sorrows of Christ : as the good
Samaritan, stopping to take care of the wounded man,
and putting him on his own beast ; as suffering with
us and for us. He says in the Lamentations, *' I am
the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of His
wrath *." This is spoken by the Prophet of himself,
and of Christ ; it is spoken of them both in their
suffering with the suffering Israel of God. And this
may be seen throughout the Lamentations of Jere-
miah. When it is there said, " Is it nothing to you,
all ye that pass by ? behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow ' : " — then we see at once
that it is spoken of Him who " bare them and carried
them all the days of old^." Nor is all this any thing
that is passed and gone. It is to every human soul
that the Word of God speaks in Jeremiah ; speaks of
the compassions of God towards him in Christ; it
speaks of Christ ; and at the same time it is Christ
Himself therein speaking to each one ; and drawing
out His expressions of infinite concern and mercy.

Our Lord is represented in a well-known picture
as the good Shepherd taking a lost sheep out of the
thorns ; and Himself in so doing as wearing a crown
of thorns with a bleeding countenance. It is this
throughout that speaks in the prophet Jeremiah. It
is the bleeding Shepherd extricating His lost sheep
from among the thorns of the world. It is purposely
so ordered of God; the penitent of all ages and
countries in studying the Bible in order to know God

* Lam. iii. 1. • Lam. i. 12.

' Isa. Ixiii. 9.

JBBEKIAH. 279

and himself, does naturally read the Prophet Jere-
miah under this impression; whether he stops to
contemplate the fact or no, so it is ; the feeling with
which a devout person looks on that representation of
Christ, of which I am speaking, is like that which the
reverential reader experiences when hearing in Jere-
miah the voice of the good Shepherd.

Nor is this all, for Jeremiah was in the meanwhile
made also like unto Christ in suffering himself from
others, while he suffered with them and for them ; for
as a witness of God he was hated, smitten, impri-
soned, and at last, it is supposed, stoned to death.
Indeed, that he should have lived so long among them
was like a continual miracle vouchsafed to him of
God, "Who gave him this promise. "Gird up thy
loins, and arise and speak unto them — be not dis-
mayed at their faces — for behold I have made thee a
defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls
against the whole land: . . . and they shall fight
against thee, but they shall not prevail'." This was
repeated to him more than once. Thus he was made
to suffer, and preserved in life that he might suffer, in
bearing the heavy burden of God ; to exhibit unto us
our Lord Himself. For instance, how like as of
Christ Himself are these words, " I was like a lamb or
an ox that is brought to the slaughter ; and I knew
not that they had devised devices against me, saying.
Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let
us cut him off from the land of the living," . . . "but
O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, . . . unto
Thee have I revealed my cause." And this was said
by the prophet of the men of Anathoth, the prophet's

» Jer.i. 17, 18; xv. 19, 20.

280 JEBXMIA^.

own native place who were seeking his life •. And in
like manner it was the men of Nazareth, His own city,
who first attempted our Lord's life. " He came unto
His own, but His own received Him not.'* Now it is
then this home relation, this tenderness of human
pity, these the motherly compassions of Him that
was bom of woman, not of man, this love of Christ
compassing about the soul of man, that Jeremiah
speaks throughout. The very first mention of him is
of this character. As Josiah was but a child on
coming to the throne, and when he sent to Huldah
the prophetess ; so Jeremiah when called to his high
oflice says, " Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak :
for I am a child." Thus was represented the Gospel,
strong in weakness. It speaks of the times in which, as
the Prophet Isaiah describes, a little " child shall lead
them * ;" — when a little chQd was set in the midst of
Apostles, as their example, and as the greatest in the
kingdom of Heaven.

And then after the Prophet Jeremiah is thus called
and strengthened with the promised protection of
God, what an exceeding tenderness is there in the
first words which he delivers from God to His people :
how do they serve to express the character of all his
prophecies which follow ? " Go and cry in the ears of
Jerusalem, saying. Thus saith the Lord, I remember
thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine
espousals, when thou wentest after Me in the wilder-
ness." "What iniquity have your fathers found in
Me, that they are gone far from Me ' ?" Wonderful
to say, it is God that thus speaks, and not man, but

9 Jer. xi. 19. 21. > Isa. xi. 6.

' Jer. ii. 2. 6.

JSASICIAH. 281

BO full of human affections, that we hear Him in His
prophet while His prophet himself speaks. And
sometimes the prophet turns himself to Qod, as it
were in surprise at these messages of God which
he has to bear. "Ah, Lord God," he says,
"Thou showest loving-kindness unto thousands,"
"the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts is
His Name V

But more particularly, — with regard to that ex-
pression, "I remember thee, the kindness of thy
youth, the love of thine espousals," — it is this figura-
tive allusion to lost affection, and to the remem-
brances of " first love," which is so common in this
prophet. And that usual image under which the
grief of Christ is expressed by him, is that of all the
most bitter, most intimately reaching the affections of
the human heart, that of an husband bewailing an
unfaithful wife. " Can a maid forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire ? yet My people have forgotten
Me days without number. Why trimmest thou thy
way to seek love?" " Why gaddest thou about so
much to change thy way*?" And again, "What
hath My beloved to do in Mine house, seeing she hath
wrought lewdness with many*?" "Turn, O back-
sliding children, for I am married unto you." And
further on ; " Surely as a wife treacherously departeth
from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with
Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord." " Eetum, ye
backsliding children, and I will heal your back-
slidings '." Now all this is typical and expressive of
the dealings of Christ with a human soul. His inti-

' Jep. xxxii. 18. * Jer. ii. 32. 36.

' Jer. xi. 15. > Jer. iii. 14. 20. 22.

282 JIRBIOAH.

mate relation to it, His tender, unwearied love. It
speaks in every part of a life nourished by the death
of Christ, which has its existence in His flesh and
blood ; and cannot be sustained but in Him ; the
Bride taken as it were from His bleeding side in
death. And alas ! it speaks also of the unfaithfulness
which we are to expect even in the members of His
Body.

Frequent also in this prophet are expressions
drawn from another most tender of human relation-
ships, that of a parent. " Wilt thou not from this
time cry unto Me, My father. Thou art the guide
of my youth?'* And again, "But I said, How
shall I put thee among the children, and give thee
a pleasant land?'* "And I said. Thou shalt call
Me, My father ; and shalt not turn away from Me ^*'
The full force, too, of this figure can only be
known in that new relationship into which we
Christians have been brought as children of Gk)d,
saying by the Spirit, Abba, Father. It anti-
cipates those appeals to us in our Lord's Sermon
on the Mount on God's more than fatherly
love; throughout the whole of which we are ad-
dressed as the children of our Father which is in
Heaven.

But even when these figures of natural affection
are not used, and the prophet speaks in his own
person, it is of a like spirit and character of tender-
hearted compassion, even unto death. " When I
would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint
in me*.'* "But if ye will not hear it, my soul
shall weep in secret places for your pride ; and mine

' Jer. iu. 4. 19. ' Jer. viiL 18.

JEBEHIAH. 283

eyes shall weep sore*." Must we not think that
this opens to us some intimation of our Lord's
own secret sorrows; of the heavy untold anguish
which was in the bitterness of that cup which He
drank? of His "sighs," of His "groaning deeply
in spirit," of His " strong crying and tears ?" And
from expostulating with his people, the prophet turns
in a like strain to expostulate with God Himself
in their behalf, making himself one with that sinful
people. "O Lord, though our iniquities testify
against us ; for we have sinned against Thee." " O
the hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of
trouble, why shouldest Thou be a stranger in the
land, and as a wayfaring man that tumeth aside
to tarry for a night ? "Why shouldest thou be as a
man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save P
Yet Thou, Lord, art in the midst of us, and
we are called by Thy name ; leave us not '."

There is indeed in this prophet great sadness,
almost verging on despair, for had he not reason
for despair ? " Can the Ethiopian," says he, " change
his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also
do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Sinking
under the heavy burden, he curses the day wherein he
was born ^ Yet it is not all of this character, very
much the reverse.

As our Lord, when His hour was come, and the
night of His great sorrow, spake so much of com-
fort to His disciples ; and looking beyond the cloud
rejoiced under that great tribulation, and spake more
than ever of peace ; so this His prophet, who speaks

' Jer. xiii. 17- * Jer. xiv. 7- 9-

' Jer. xiii. 23 ; xx. 14.

284 JESEMIAH.

80 much of His sorrows, turns also at last to the
consolations that ate in Christ; and descries the
morning of Eesurrection illumining the night of
the grave. He sees no longer the captivity, but
the restoration beyond it, and in that restoration
the pledges and types of the Gt)spel; "Fear thou
not, O Jacob My servant, saith the Lord ; for I am
with thee; for I will make a full end of all the
nations whither I have driven thee ; but I will not
make a full end of thee^.'* Strange that there is
no part of Scripture so full of comfort as those
chapters in St. John's Gk)8pel on the saddest of all
sad nights, when our Lord, under the sense of that
coming agony, gave His Body and Blood to His
disciples. So full is all the account of joy and
thanksgiving, and yet at the same time of unspeak-
able sorrow. In like manner, perhaps, there are
no passages in Scripture, unless it be those our
Lord's last Eucharistic discourses, so eloquent of
love and consolations as the Slst chapter of Jeremiah,
— and we may add the 33rd also. No words can
be found in any language of more touching beauty
than all that strain. And indeed so similar in tone
is it to those passages I have spoken of in the
Gospel, that it is chosen by our Church for the
Evening Lesson of that Thursday night in the Holy
Week. The prophet, in bearing the good tidings,
speaks as one awakening after a deliverance from some
terrible afliiction. For he had said, " Woe unto us !
for the day goeth away ; for the shadows of evening
are stretched out." He had said, "I am black;
astonishment hath taken hold on me'." But now,

* Jer. xlvL 28. • Jer. vi 4; viii. 21,

JEBXMtAH. 285

in the 31st chapter, he says, " Upon this I awaked,
and beheld, and my sleep was sweet unto me."
All is changed, the very tenderness of his former
woes adds to the intensity of the expressions of
joy. " Eachel weeping for her children " is comforted,
and they are come again from death. Ephraim is
again remembered as a dear son, and received with
the overflowing compassions of a father. The virgin
of Israel hath come again. In their heart is written
holiness by the finger of G-od, and their sins are
remembered no more. With weeping and suppli-
cations do they come, but they shall sorrow no more
at all. " I have loved thee with an everlasting love ;
therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee."
Nay, yet more than this, " the nations of the earth
shall hear all the good that I do,'* "they shall fear
and tremble for all the goodness." The voice of
joy, the voice of the Bridegroom, and the voice of
the Bride shall be heard, and of them that say,
" Praise the Lord, for He is good '." Such are but
allusions to that outpouring strain of consolation
and joy with which this prophet speaks in the deso-
lations of Judah.

The Prophet Jeremiah is much to be considered
in days like the present, when "the overflowings
of ungodliness make us afraid" of what is coming
on; and by means of the Press, "the fiery darts
of the wicked one" are weekly and daily spread
abroad, encompass us on all sides, and forcibly bring
before us the character of the days in which we
live. In these the tenderness of Jeremiah, the hatred
of evil together witb so much compassion, such

' Jer. xxziii.

286 JS££MIi.H.

appeals to God, and from God to man, such prajers
for those who pray not for themselves, are most sea-
sonable. He will teach us sorrow rather than anger ;
expostulation instead of desponding silence. But
this, after all, is but a secondary study of this
prophet. It is as setting forth the compassions of
Christ towards ourselves, His love for the Christian
soul which He has so dearly purchased. His intimate
knowledge of it and regard for it. And as arising
out of this, we learn from him in the second place,
the compassion we ourselves ought to have for others,
and especially in reproving and correcting them.
For in this all God's people in one sense are pro-
phets; in that by the Spirit of God they ought to
improve and reform each other. And this can never
be done effectually, unless it is with much charity,
and in the fear of God.

A Christian must be in the world, like his Master,
a "man of sorrows," not merely on account of his
own personal sufferings, but because he is in a sin-
ful world ; and the more holy he becomes, the more
must he be " acquainted with grief;" for as Heaven
is the abode. of happiness because of holiness; so
this earth must be the abode of sorrow because of
sin; the servant of Christ must live in a world of
his own, apart from that which is without, in the
thoughts of his heart ; if the world hates him because
he is not of the world, but is bom of God, so likewise
must he hate the world ; and this implies desolation
of heart and mourning ; and the more this mourning
is, the more will his consolation abound. Thus
not mourning only, but joy and peace are his por-
tion. For the Christian's life is in itself as a great
contradiction; his religion is made up of contra-

JEEEMIAH. 287

dictions, because Holy Scripture is full of the same ;
and bis course, as it advances onward, harmonizes
them all, and out of such discords forms the ever-
lasting concord of heaven. If joy is the mark of
sonsbip, yet this his very acceptableness depends on
his sorrow. It is those that lament the sins that
are around them on whom is set the seal of God'.
" They that fear the Lord," and " speak often to one
another" in sympathies of sacred sorrow are the
jewels valued of God ". In some days there is scarce
any stronger token of holiness ; as in the good
Josiah, because he wept and his heart was tender;
and in this prophet when he says, "if ye will not
hear it, my soul shall weep in secret '."

In this respect then is Jeremiah the Christian's
study, as therein he studies his Master's own life,
and the mind which was in Christ. To look on
the prophets only as, foretelling things to come, is
but a partial and limited mode of taking them;
nor are they only as "preachers of righteousness,"
but likewise real living characters in which Christ
Himself is speaking by His Spirit. Where Christ is,
there must His servants behold Him. They live on
earth that they may learn to love, and they learn
to love that they may live, — ^that true life which is
with Christ in God.

» Ezek. ix. 4. « Mai. iii. 17.

" Jer, xiii. 17.

SERMON XXV.

EZEKIEL.

EzBK. xxxiil 32.

^ And, lo, thou art onto them as a very lovely song of one that
hath a pleasant voice, and can play well <»n an instrument: for
they hear thy words, hut they do them not."

These words are spoken of the Prophet Ezekiel;
he is as the lovely song, as the pleasant voice, as
the instrument of music, all this even to the worldly
mind; yet we might have thought otherwise; so
full is he of woe, of the wrath of God; and how
dark and obscure are his visions! Should we not
say of him rather as of his Divine Master, who
"speaks by the prophets,'* he is "without form or
comeliness," "there is no beauty that we should
desire him." Tet so it is, very beautiful is the
lightning though it be a messenger of wrath, and
the breaking forth of the burning mountain. Thus
they made much of this prophet, as if there were
something attractive about him ; they come to him,
they assemble at his house, they ask for his revela-
tions, and sit before him \ Let us consider what

^ Ezek. xiv. 3; xx. 1 ; zxxiii. 31.

SZEEIEL. 289

there is in his history and in his prophecies that will
account for this.

The great prophets came for the most part in
succession ; when one departed another arose, as
watchmen in the dark days; they passed on the
lamp one to another; for Otod left not His Church
without witness: but now when His people were
divided, some being still left in Jerusalem before
its destruction, while others were carried captive
to Babylon, the light becomes twofold; Jeremiah
and Ezekiel both prophesy together; but the one
in Jerusalem, the other at the same time by the river
Chebar in the captivity of Babylon ; for Ezekiel had
been taken there among the captives eleven years be-
fore Jerusalem was destroyed. It is said ' that his pro-
phecies were also carried from thence at the same time
to Jerusalem ; and those of Jeremiah were brought
to Babylon; thus these two great prophets united
as it were their lights together ; though vast distances
intervened, they mingled their tears.

How great a change must have come over the
mind of an Israelite who had been carried away
to Babylon ; the great city of wonders ; the seat
of Oriental magnificence, — of the wisdom of the an-
cients ; where the Chaldeans watched the stars in
the broad expanse of Eastern plains ; the country
whence Egypt itself derived its language of mystery,
making " living creatures '* to represent the spiritual
and Divine. Like St. Paul at Bome, he is a cap-
tive; but "the Spirit of God is not bound;" nay,
is more free in chains. And now to speak to cap-
tive Israel, he takes up his parable from Babylon;

' B/ St. Jerome.

290 SZESTBL.

and, applies the new imagery and scenes of the East.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is henceforth
known by a new name, as "the Lord of Hosts,"
the God of those armies of Heaven whom the Ba-
bylonians ignorantly worshipped. With new lan-
guage does the Spirit clothe itself, and one meet
for that language is chosen; the earthen vessel is
moulded by the Divine hand for this use. As the
Gospel comes to us in the garb of Greek and Itoman
simplicity; these prophets speak with the wonderful
visions and symbols of the East ; each with its appro-
priate adaptation of God.

Nay, not only the images by which God speaks,
but scenes and events themselves are changed; the
Children walking in the fire ; the Saint in the lion's
den; the Hand of fire writing on the wall; these
are things of a new character ; they are of Babylon,
not of Jerusalem ; or rather they are of Jerusalem
in Babylon. The coming of Christ is foretold in a
new manner; in Daniel, one like the Son of God
is seen with his faithful ones walking in the midst
of the fiames. In the Prophet Ezekiel the Incar-
nation is set forth in a vision of four living crea-
tures where the throne of God is ; the living fire
is there; the fsice of a Man; the Lion to speak
His kingdom and strength ; the Ox the sacrifice
of His death ; the Eagle His Eesurrection and God-
head. Now these considerations will account for
the peculiar character of Ezekiel ; and why in the
prophet of the captivity more than in any other
it was fulfilled, "I will incline mine ear to the
parable : and show my dark speech upon the harp ^."

. » Pfl. xlix, 4^

EZXKIEL. 291

When they sat down by the waters of Babylon, and
remembered Zion and wept, in shadowy and sublime
outline they saw in its dark waters the reflection
of the spiritual Zion, and through the visions of
Assyrian allegory spake to them the mysterious wis-
dom of God.

But before entering further into the subject, let
us consider what it is in Christ Himself which is
peculiarly to be found in Ezekiel? for as our Lord
spake by the prophets, so in the prophets seve-
rally seems set forth something in His own ministry.
Now, in addition to many expressions which remind
us of our Lord's own words, I think we may hear
His voice in those heavy denunciations which Ezekiel
declares against the Jews. Li the Gospels are the
terrible Woes pronounced against the Pharisees after
their day of visitation was past, and their "house
left unto them desolate;" so in Ezekiel, when the
sentence of condemnation was already gone forth,
we hear the awful Voice by the prophet, " thou shalt
speak unto them whether they will hear or whether
they will forbear," "for they are most rebellious:"
such is his commission; his "£ace is made strong"
as adamant against their &ces ; " thorns and briers "
are with him, as with Christ, when He wore His
crown of thorns; and he also "has his dwelling
among scorpions*," that same "generation of vipers,"
of whom our Lord Himself speaks.

It might then at first sight appear inconsistent
with this, that the Prophet Ezekiel should in style
be considered so engaging, that even to those to
whom he was sent with heavy tidings he should be

*Ch.H.6,7.
U 2

292 XZSKIEL.

as one that bad a '' pleasant voice ;" in like manner,
tbat although the roll which is given him is ^' written
within and without/' '' with lamentations and mourn-
ing and woe," yet it should be in the mouth of the
prophet, that is^ to the natural man, '' as honej for
sweetness*."

Yet this is in accordance with much we find
in Scripture; for instance, what could be more
sternly severe and full of reproof than St. Stephen's
speech at his death ? But on that occasion, '' looking
stedfastly on him, they saw his face as it had been
the fece of an angel." Thus God arrested their
minds till His martyr should speak to them all hia
burden of sad admonition. In like manner there
is something of deep interest and beauty in the
visions, the similitudes, and the images which Ezekiel
uses, and unwilling minds are held by them till
they have heard all his warnings; not only thus,
but they continue with them unforgotten, and such
as will not be put by. Thus our Lord's own warnings
of the terrible day of Judgment have mostly come
to us under the dress of most striking parables and
figures. Who does not listen with interest to the
parable of the Ten Virgins; of the Householder
taking account with His servants; of the Kjng
coming in at the Marriage Supper; of the net
which the angels are emptying and sorting on
the shore ; of the Shepherd dividing His sheep from
the goats ? These will be always remembered by
those who would be most willing to forget the Day
of Judgment itself. In like manner the solemn
prophecies of St. John in the Bevelation^ &om the

» Ch. ii. \Q \ iiu 3.

EZEKTEL, 298

tjpes and symbols in which they are expressed,
engage the attention of the natural mind, and so
carry on and hold up to every age the witness of
God.

Por these reasons then we need not wonder if
the prophet most commissioned to declare messages
of judgment, should be found in language most
figurative, most picture-like of inspired writers ; that
the watchman and the witness for the captives should
be apparelled, not in the sublimity of the Prophet
Isaiah, nor the tenderness of Jeremiah, but in the
oriental imagery of Ezekiel.

Again, such types and figures have a life such as no
mere words of themselves can have, they clothe them-
selves with form and spirit, and continue. Thus the
images of Ezekiel not only speak of themselves in the
place where they are found ; but they come up again
and are of frequent occurrence in the Apocalypse, as
if still waiting for their fulfilment. Thus indeed, much
that is in Ezekiel is also in St. John ; things which
already have been in some sense ^Ifilled ; but even
now are fulfilling themselves, and yet to be more
largely and worthily fulfilled. The vision of the four
living creatures for instance, in Ezekiel, is found again
in St. John ; it is still before us ; still new ; we know
much of what it means, but we have much more yet
to learn. The glory of the Lord coming from the
East ; His voice like the noise of many waters ; the
earth shining with His glory' ;" these and many such
things in Ezekiel are reproduced in St. John. In
both, the angels of judgment are represented as wait-
ing till the children of God are sealed with His

^ Ezek. xliil Bev. vii. 2.

294 SZEKIEL.

" mark upon their forehead." Gog and Magog with
their armies are both alike in Ezekiel and in St. John,
as about to come forth in the times of the end. The
assembling of the fowls to the great sacrifice is in
both. And especially that subject of many chapters
in Ezekiel, the measuring of the Temple and the
vision of the Holy City, is marked in both as yet to
be. As Joseph said to Pharaoh, the vision is re-
peated, because it is established of Gk)d, and soon to
be fulfilled by Him'. Thus things in Ezekiel over
which the tide of ages seems to have rolled, come
up in St. John ; all as showing that it shall be per-
fected in measure, in number and weight ; that, not-
withstanding the confusion that prevails, there is a
secret order incomparable in beauty, and every gem
hath its place assigned of God. The memorable
vision too of the dry bones has been more than once
fulfilled in some sense, but still awaits its last com-
pletion.

Now I have said that one efiect of types and simili-
tudes such as these is, that they may not die away
and be forgotten ; thus if we look to those subjects of
Holy Writ which arrest at this day most attention in
the world, we shall find it is such figurative pro-
phecies; every age, nay, every scene of popular in-
terest has its interpreters and their readers, who
apply such things to passing events; in a manner
indeed very inadequate, and perhaps unprofitable and
vain; yet, however mistaken, they serve to keep
alive the knowledge of them; God will not have
them hidden and lost; every time that a con-
spicuous enemy, real or supposed, springs up, there

' Gen. xll 32.

XZEKIEL. 295

are interpreters that cry out, and many that heap
them saying, this is the Antichrist that is to be.
So that in this way, people are made to know and
remember that the great enemy of God has been fore-
told, is to be always expected, and at any time may
be at the door.

Such are some reasons for the symbolic language of
Ezekiel; it is a language suited for all times and
countries, that never grows out of date, or loses its
power. Add to which it may be naturally accounted
for by the character and circumstances of the pro-
phet, and the heavy tidings he had to bear. Strong
feeling does always naturally express itself in figures
and similitudes; it gives vent to itself in burning
words that take form and are full of life. Thus the
Psalmist first says, " My heart shall muse of under-
standing," and it is to this he adds of opening his ear
to the parable, and showing his dark speech upon
the harp. Now Ezekiel was in delivering his pro-
phecies thus eaten up as it were by a burning fire
within. " I went," he says ', " in bitterness, in the
heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was
strong upon me.'* For seven days he sat among his
people as one astonished ere he opened his mouth.
Moreover, he himself was made to drink deeply of the
cup of affliction in his prophecies : he was made to
them a sign and a terror from the heaviness of his
burden, to add weight to his words, " Thou shalt bear
thy burden in the twilight, thou shalt cover thy face
that thou see not the ground, for I have set thee for
a sign to the house of Israel." His wife, the desire of
his eyes, was taken from him at a stroke, and he was

» Ch. iu. 14,

296 EZEEEEL.

forbidden to mourn'; lie had to eat of bread foully
polluted that he might so speak the more powerfullj * :
he had to lay on his side in fasting and bonds for
many days, to bear the iniquity of the house of Israel
and of Judah. " Sigh therefore," it is said to him, " thou
son of man, with the breaking of thy loins ; and with
bitterness sigh before their eyes," in order that they
may ask, "Wherefore sighest thou'?" Thus it is
that in reading the G-ospels, we, my brethren, are
made to ask, why our blessed Saviour sighs. As St.
Paul, lest he should be puffed up by the abundance of
the revelations that were made to him, had an angel
of Satan sent to buffet him, and had laid on him a
multitude of sorrows : so had Ezekiel the like mark of
Christ ; that his words might have weight as one that
bore about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
Ezekiel is peculiarly addressed as " the Son of Man,"
and it is observed by an ancient writer, St. Gregory *,
that it is whenever he is called to the vision of things
heavenly he is thus designated by that name in
which our Lord Himself ever delighted, when He went
about in the power of His Grodhead. Thus as a plant
which when crushed gives forth its sweetness, as from
the grape trodden under foot is the Wine of Grod ; and
from the com thrashed and ground is the Bread of
Life; so was Ezekiel stricken of God that he might
speak the more powerfully in the likeness of Christ.
And O the blessedness of that suffering, the ines-
timable value of that affliction which gives us power to
speak the words of God ! And well did he need visions
and words of power, for nothing else would reach the

• Ch. xxiv. 16. » Ch. iv. 15.

» Ch. xxi. 6, 7. » In Ezek. ch. xi.

EZEKIEL. 297

hearts of those to whom he was sent. As our Lord
Himself so often repeated the words, "he that hath
ears to hear, let him hear ;" so God says by Ezekiel,
" He that heareth, let him hear ; and he that for-
beareth, let him forbear *." " Whether they will hear,
or whether they will forbear; thou shalt speak My
words*.'* "Son of Man, thou dwellest in the midst
of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see and see
not ; they have ears to hear and hear not '."

Eor these reasons the prophecies of Ezekiel, like
our Lord's own miracles and parables, present things
more to the eye than to the ear ; for thus they more
powerfully reach the mind. Hence the whole style
and character of Ezekiel; where another prophet
persuades, Ezekiel sees a sign or symbol and
leaves that to speak. This might be shown in in-
stances out of number. Thus Isaiah says, "the
law shall go forth from Mount Sion, and the word of
the Lord from Jerusalem^;" but Ezekiel instead of
this sees the vision of waters going forth from the
threshold of the Temple to the four quarters of the
world. He sees, and describes at great length as he
sees, the Shepherd and the sheep, the dark mountains,
" the cloudy and dark day," and quiet waters *. He
sees the burning forest, while they cry out in mockery,
" Ah, Lord God, doth he not speak parables **?" But
the end of God is answered by their attention being
thus arrested by his visions, for it is added, "then
shall they know that there hath been a prophet among
them>."

* Ch. iii. 27. » Ch. ii. 7.

« Ch. xii. 2. ' Isa. ii. 3.

» Ch. xxxiv. 12. » Ch. xx. 49.
> Ch. xxxiii. 33; ii. 6.

XZEEIEL.

He is raised in visions by the Spirit far above ; he
is among angels and the secret providences of Qoi
before they go forth on earth ; he sees and hears as it
were unspeakable words which it is not for man to
utter; and therefore he is called the " Son of Man:"
he walks near to the ground and mourns ; with a fire
within that drinks up his spirit. He sees deeply into
the spiritual nature of God's judgments ; and that
although in things temporal children are punished for
their fathers; yet in very deed before God none
bears but his own burden, as he explains throughout
the 18th chapter; and that amidst temporal judg-
ments which are dark and inscrutable all things work
together for good to those that love God. He is
set as a watchman to watch for the morning, and de-
scries its light from afar, while fires as of Mount Sinai
blend with the milder radiance of Pentecost. He is
the Prophet of Christ's second coming no less than of
His first. As in the Day of Judgment amidst sights
and signs the most sublitne and terrible, will be
manifested wonderful depths of God's wisdom, the
reach of His Providences, and the scales of eternal
justice; so throughout this Prophet amidst visions
and imagery, great, striking, and awful, there occur
full and clear enunciations of God's mercy and
truth, the rising of His temple, the sublime and won-
derful but most beautiful order of His ways on earth,
bearing onward the throne of the Incarnate Son of
God. Such is the style and the course of this the
great seer of Eastern captivity, while amidst all this
we hear from him as his one great message the first
words of our Prayer Book, "When the wicked man
tumeth away from his wickedness, he shall save his
soul."

JSZEKIEL. 299

Thus then it is that the prophet Ezekiel being so
intimately connected with our Lord's own teaching
in the Gospels, and being bound up more than any
other prophet in the Eevelation of St. John, comes
especially home to us Christians, the Israel of God in
the Babjlon of the world ; to them that are for awhile
in the furnace of affliction that they may come forth
purified ; hewn out and broken and fitted by His hand
that they may be living stones for His temple that is
to be; a remnant ever found in the ruins of the
visible Church. "Although I have scattered them
among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little
sanctuary, saith the Lord God *."

One of the Christian fathers, St. Jerome, says that
be was used when young to go on the Lord's day into
the caves at Some where the Apostles and Martyrs
were buried ; and there in silence and darkness amid
the chambers of the dead to meditate on the visions of
Ezekiel ; and that thus he learned to approach them
with awe and reverence, not with idle curiosity, and
80 in some measure to understand them; seeing
light, he says, as in the dubious obscure, and exclaim-
ing, "I have found Him whom my soul loveth,
I will hold Him fast and will not let Him go'."
Thus, "in the cloudy and dark day," in the times of
affliction, we may understand him better than now we
do. There is no doubt that the prophet Ezekiel and
the Eevelation of St. John are especially intended for
the edification and comfort of Christians in the last
days, those of " the great tribulation." And here I
would observe that those who are singled out by the
seal of God in their forehead to be safe under those

s Ch. xi 16. ' St. Jer. in Ezek. Lib. XII. cap. xL

►

800 EZEOEL.

His judgments, are not described as those who have
done any "great thing, but such as " sigh and cry for
all the abominations that are done in the midst of the
sanctuary *."

One word more of caution ; a holy Bishop who has
written largely on Ezekiel, the great St. Gregory, has
applied it to the examination and correction of our
own heart, and building up the soul in righteousness.
Thus we know that the temple of God of which so
much is said in Ezekiel is in one sense our own souL
Happy he who mourns for all pollutions and abomi-
nations that have been there, who puts out from
thence all idols, and makes it fit for the indwelling of
God. Blessed is he who keeps his heart tender and
low to understand His prophets, whether the plain-
tive voice amidst the ruins of Israel, or the dark harp
by the waters of Babylon. Let it not be said of us as
it was of the Jews, " We have mourned unto you "
with the voice of Jeremiah, but ye lamented not*;
"we have piped unto you" with the prophecies of
Ezekiel, but ye listened as to a lovely song or instru-
ment of music, ye heard and did not.

* Ch. ix. 4. » St. Matt xi. 17.

SERMON XXYL

DANIEL.

Dan. X. 11.
" And He said unto me, Daniel, a man greatly beloved.'*

SxJOH is the testimony which God Himself bears to
the Prophet Daniel, and for this reason we naturally
associate him in our minds with the Evangelist St.
John; the one as the "man greatly beloved;" the
other as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." And
what is remarkable, both alike are spoken of in the
Church as much for wisdom as for love. Thus it is
that to love God is to know Him, and Divine wisdom
is ever united with Divine love, as light and heat in
the same flame. They that know God must love
Him, for He Himself is love, and to them who seek to
love Him He imparts this knowledge of Himself.
And therefore St. John in his writings speaks of light
as much as of love: and it is said to Daniel that,
because he is a man of love it is given him to under-
stand.
In both too there was the love of man as cona^U

302 DANIEL.

CU0U8 as the love of God ; thus St. John ever dwella
on our loving one another ; and Daniel seems to ha?e
drawn on himself the love of others bjr his love for
them. The first mention of him is that " God had
brought him into tender love with the prince of the
eunuchs." The heart of the great king Nebuchad-
nezzar bows before him in worship ; and still more
knit to him in love is the heart of the king Darius.
He was beloved of them because he loved them. What
tender concern does he express for the astrologers:
but how much above all for his own people ! His
exertions with kings are for their sake ; His interces-
sions with God are for their pardon.

And it may be observed that three times as he is
designated the " greatly beloved,** we find in the
margin of our Bibles another reading, " a man of de-
sires ;" this may be " a man of love," full of love, all
love ; love for others which ever brings love in return,
as face answers to face in the clear water : or a man
of desires for that which is alone worthy of all desire,
all desire towards God, full of earnest, insatiable de-
sire for God ; his eyes ever turned to Him, his heart
ever pondering, longing, listening for, loving God.
On every occasion of need or difficulty did he at once
turn to God that he might know what to answer.
God was evidently his only rest and confidence ; his
home, his country, and more than all that he had lost.
Three times a day in solemn prayer which nothing
could divert did he hold communion with God. Thus
also was the beloved disciple afterwards " a man of
desires," full of earnest zeal, so that he was called of
his Lord, " the son of thunder." It was through this
love or desire that lying on his Lord's bosom ha
drank of wisdom.

DANIEL. 303

Oh, what a wonderful expression is this, the man of
desires, — this is the highest state of the human soul,
to be made up of desire. A soul full of desire is full
of prayer. My soul hath a desire, says David, panteth,
fainteth, is athirst for God. Of wisdom it is said,
"they that drink her shall yet be thirsty ^" And
surely never did a soul of desire so break forth as in
those words of the beloved and loving Disciple, " Even
so come. Lord Jesus ! '*

It was these, the desires after Q-od, the love of God,
that made Daniel so earnest in seeking Him by hu-
miliation, and fasting, and prayer. It was in thus
seeking that he was answered ; in this stedfast, un-
swerving purpose he continued until he was heard *.
Eor like reasons in some respects may the character
of Daniel be illustrated by a comparison with that of
Joseph : in many points they resemble each other : so
full was the character of Joseph also of singular love
and sweetness ; to him God revealed His secrets, as
friend does to friend, drew near unto him in visions of
the night, and whispered to his secret spirit the interpre-
tations of dreams. He also was brought into love and
honour with his successive masters ; with the captain
of the guard; with the master of the prison; and
with the king of Egypt ; made by him " the head of
the heathen," and "teaching his senators wisdom'."
But more than all was his love for his own brethren ;
and he, like Daniel, wept over them in love, and
pleaded for them. Again, both were captives and
early taught in the school of affliction : the iron was
on their limbs and " entered into their soul," both

1 Ecclus. xxiv. 21. ' Dan. ix. 3; x. 2, 3.

» Ps. cv. 22. 18.

304 DAiriEL.

known for purity, both for love, and for wisdom of
God ; and both were for that reason the best coun-
sellors and best rulers among men, as deiiying their
wisdom from above. They became wise in hmmm
thiDgs, by looking away from man unto Qod, And
that which they obtained from above they ever pre-
served by looking upward : they knew that the pearl of
great price was not to be preserved but in a pure
heart. If on the walls of the imiverse they saw and
read the fiery Hand which the astrologers and sooth-
sayers could not, it was because in them dwelt the
Spirit of Him that wrote.

And this we may see the more strongly, this inti-
mate union of purity of heart with wisdom and Divine
love, by the example of Solomon. Of him also it was
said while yet young that "the Lord loved him*."
He also obtained wisdom beyond all men because he
sought for it of God. " If any man lack wisdom let
him ask of God." But how may " the gold become
dim, and the most fine gold changed!" How was
that wisdom clouded, and how did it come to nought!
For in him Divine love was lost in earthly, sensual
love ; whereas Joseph, and Daniel, and St. John were
pre-eminently known for purity. In them was ful-
filled that the pure in heart shall see God. They
were pure in heart ; they had visions of God. They
saw Him in all His ways, and works, and words ; if
their knowledge was not like that of Solomon, of the
hyssop on the wall and the cedar of Lebanon ; yet it
was in the spiritual and moral providences, in that
which is peculiarly the wisdom of God ; so that Pha-
raoh said of Joseph, '' Can we find such a one as this

* 2 Sam. ziL 24.

3)Ain£L. 805

18, a man in whom the Spirit of God is *.*' And Daniel
is ever described by the princes of Babylon as "a
man in whom is the spirit of the holy gods," having
''understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the
gods."

But in another point likewise did Joseph and Daniel
differ from Solomon, that he had not on him as they
had that mark of Christ, which is early affliction. By
self-chastening thus learned and ingrained deep, their
"first love" was preserved fresh and pure to the
last. Indeed, even David, the man after God's own
heart, and the great Apostle, St. Peter, both fell,
though great was their repentance. But of Daniel
and St. John it is not recorded that they ever fell
away. For in this also is it true that divine "love
never faileth." It is very remarkable that it was while
Daniel was yet alive, yea, even while young, for he
had scarcely arrived at middle age, being, as is
supposed, but thirty-four years old when, in the pro-
phet Ezekiel, he is united thus with Noah and Job ;
"Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job
were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by
their righteousness, saith the Lord God'." And not
only for his holiness, but for his wisdom also was he
so famous, that the same prophet says to the Prince of
Tyre, who boasted of his knowledge, " Art thou wiser
thanDanier?"

So holy and so wise was he declared to be before
death had set the seal on his life. Yet, as St. Augus-
tine observes, though so approved of for holiness and
for wisdom, yet he makes the most earnest confession

» Gen. xU. 38. • Ezek. xiv. 14.

^ Ezek. xxyiii. 3.

306 DANIEL.

of sin. And indeed very great were his humiliations.
He is not a prophet only, but an intercessor with
Grod. It is to be observed that he is not sent to
rebuke and reprove his people, as the other prophets
had been, but to make himself one with them, to pray
for them, and humble himself, as the Priest offered
sacrifice for his own sins, and then for those of the
people ; " confessing my sin," he says, " and the sin
of my people *." The captivity had done its work;
actual idolatry was at end, the voice of reproof was no
more raised aloud, but the voice of humiliation and
confession was heard as out of the ground ; it was
Daniel pleading for mercy, fasting and praying,
confessing his own sins, and those of his people
as if they were his own. And unto this day the
Church has no more solemn form of confession than
that of the prophet Daniel. Thus Jeremiah and
Ezekiel had been sent " to root out, to pull down
and destroy," but Daniel to carry out their work,
"to build and to plant'." For in him repentance
had its perfect work, and from the desolations of
Israel he looked forward and prepared for their
restoration.

He was the last of the four great prophets, which
four, like the four Evangelists, stand as it were as a
whole together, bearing the full witness of Q-od ; but
Daniel the last, like St. John the last of the Evan-
gelists, stands also like St. John in a different position
from the former three. He comes forth the comple-
tion and perfection of them in his own person ; not as
a prophet ooly, but also as one With those to whom
the prophets were sent. Thus we may observe that the

« Dan. ix. 20. » Jer. i. 10.

DANIEL.

807

part which he bears among the four great prophets is
peculiarly his own. For instance, the prophet Isaiah
speaks by name long before of Cyrus the restorer and
rebuilder of the Temple * ; Jeremiah ^ foretels the
seventy years of the captivity ; Ezekiel sees in vision
the rebuilding of the Temple : but Daniel carries on
all these, and himself takes part in the fulfilment of
them. It is he that appends to Cyrus himself: it
is he that numbers the seventy years of Jeremiah, and
brings about the accomplishment of them: it is he
that gives as it were body and form to the visions of
Ezekiel; and stops not at the temporal fulfilment;
but goes on to Christ's eternal kingdom, and calculates
the years of His coming.

Thus, like St. John among the Evangelists, he may
have the eagle for his symbol among the prophets;
"They that wait upon the Lord'* shall be as the
eagle that renews its youth*, that can rise aloft
and gaze upon the sun. The lion, the calf, and the
man have their walk on earth ; but the eagle " mounts
up with wings " towards Heaven, and is there as one
of all space. " Her eyes behold afar off," and " her
nest is on high ;" in the strong place is her abode and
her dwelling in the rock *. And that Eock is Christ.

And if he is thus as the prophet of God, he then
passes, as it were, from the prophet into the saint
and martyr ; and herein it is given him to resemble,
not in character only, but in his history also, the
disciple of Divine love ; both were martyrs in will, but
not in deed ; both miraculously delivered from death ;
both as captives taken into the secret counsels of

* laa. xliv. 28. « Isa. xl. 3; Ps. ciii. 6.

< Job xxxix. 28, 29.

x2

308 DAiniEL.

God, and raised on high to behold His kingdom from
afar : both had to wait for it to extreme old age, behold-
ing, like Moses, a further rest for which they longed,
but into which they entered not; both were as
men not living in one generation only, but belonging
to all time; because in visions of God they were
present in all succeeding ages to the last. No one,
for instance, has so forcibly described these very
days in which we liv.e as the Prophet Daniel.
" Many," he says, " shall run to and fro, and know-
ledge shall be increased." "But the wicked shall
do wickedly ^" All which is carried out into fur-
ther description by St. John. Both saw in vision
the throne of judgment ; the dead, small and great,
standing before God; the judgment set, and the
books opened ' ; to both it was given to behold " one
like the similitude of the sons of men," who was
clothed in linen, and girded with fine gold; whose
face was as the appearance of lightning, and His
eyes as lamps of fire; His feet as brass burning
in the furnace ; His voice as of many waters, as the
voice of a multitude ; at whose sight their comeliness
was turned into corruption, and they fell with their
faces to the ground, till touched and lifted up by Him
who is the Eesurrection and the Life '.

Thus was it fulfilled by anticipation, in Daniel,
what St. Paul says of the Christian Church : " Te
are come unto Mount Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem,
the company of angels, and to Jesus, the Mediator
of the new covenant \ Of him more especially might
it be said, that he was as a stranger and a pilgrim

' Dan. xii. 4. 10. » Dan. vii. 10 ; Rev. xx. 12.

• Compare Dan. x. ; Rev. L * Heb. xii. 22. 24.

upon earth, looking for a better country, for a city
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is
God. Further, we may observe, that although he did
so much for the restoration of Jerusalem and the
rebuilding of the temple, yet he himself did not
return, but continued an exile and a captive unto
the last. And indeed of him and his companions
God seems to speak in consolation long before by
the Prophet Isaiah, when in describing them he says,
'^ Unto them will I give in Mine house and within
My walls a place and a name better than of sons and
of daughters, I will give them an everlasting name ',"
which we may well carry on in Daniel's own words,
for " they that be wise shall shine as the brightness
of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righte-
ousness as the stars for ever and ever'."

Again, if the sins of forefathers are visited on
their children, yet how wonderfully under these visi-
tations do all things work for good for those that
love God. Thus we read not long since of the judg-
ment on King Hezekiah, that his treasures should
be carried to Babylon, and his sons should be cap-
tives in the palace of 'the king of Babjlon. And if,
as is supposed, Daniel was of the seed Eoyal, and
the descendant of Hezekiah, then was there in this
the signal mercy of God, and the remembrance of
that good king, even in judgment. For Daniel was
indeed a captive, but as a captive greater than kings ;
for Nebuchadnezzar himself fell down and worshipped
him* ; Belshazzar trembled before him; Darius loved,
and Cyrus obeyed and honoured him. The treasures

» Isa. Ivi. 5. » Dan. xii 3.

« Dan. iL 46.

810 DAinzL.

of Jerusalem were there, but he was, as it were,
the keeper and defender of them till they should
be restored; and when Belshazzar was about to
pollute them, Daniel came fdrth and read the writing,
that his kingdom was gone from him, and the restorer
of Jerusalem was at the gate.

Indeed, where Daniel was, there was the Church
of Q-od, the "little sanctuary," He had promised
the captives by Ezekiel*. As was Melchizedeck
among the Canaanites, as Joseph in Egypt, so was
Dani^ among the Chaldeans : the light of the Hea-
then, the star appearing in the East, the keeper of
Jerusalem in Babylon. If to Joseph was given to
interpret dreams, to Daniel far more ; to know both
the dream untold and the interpretation thereof;
if Solomon was given " wisdom exceeding much,
and," as it is described, "largeness of heart, even
^La the sand that is on the sea-shore '," in the wisdom
given unto Daniel was there largeness of heart, even
like as the stars of heaven. Eor it was a wisdom
of things heavenly, kindled by the illumination of
Divine love.

Such was the Prophet Daniel, the man greatly
beloved, beloved both of Q-od and man; beloved
by them because greatly loving both God and man ;
a man of love, a heart of love, so full of Divine love,
that no human things could move him ; trained from
a child in deep affliction, carried as an exile in the
destruction of his home, his country, and his kin-
dred ; the family of David laid prostrate in the dust,
with his religion a wreck. But wait a little while,
and we behold him raised to a wonderfrd height,

5 Ezek. xi. \6. • 1 Kings iv. 29.

DANIEL. 311

beloved of princes, a ruler of kiDgdoms, the coun-
sellor of counsellors; honoured by the five great
emperors of the world in succession, the Babylonian,
the Persian, the Mede-; called by Nebuchadnezzar
with the highest appellation he could bestow, even
from the name of his own god Belteshazzar, and
like that of his own princely son Belshazzar. Yet
in all these things was Daniel altogether unmoved,
on account of the Divine flame, which outward
changes reached not, except to make it burn the more
brightly and strongly.

And now what was the one great secret of Daniel ?
it was desire, a soul full of desire; it was to keep
his desire alive, nay, to increase and intensify this
desire that his whole life was spent. Other things
followed, as his love for man, the love and honour
of all ; but these were not what he sought, but the
love of God. In that he found all. He studied
not human things in order to understand them, but
he looked to God, the fountain of wisdom. " With
Thee is the well of life, and in Thy light shall we
see light ^" As he himself says, " He revealeth the
deep and secret things : he knoweth what is in the
darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him®." The
astrologers looked to the stars to know earthly things,
but Daniel to the God who made them; the coun-
sellors looked to human laws and customs, but he
to God, whose providence ruleth all things, " in the
army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth/
As it is said of Angels that they learn of earthly
things by looking away from earth into the mirror
of the Divine mind, thus was it with Daniel.

7 Ps. xxxvi. 9. * Dan. ii. 22.

312 DAKIEL.

What he wished to understand he set Himself, he
says, by prayer and fasting to know ; when he would
come to the knowledge of that which he knew not, he
sought it in Q-od by humiliation: "I Daniel," he
says, '*in those days was mourning; I ate no plea-
sant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth,
till three whole weeks were fulfilled ; then I lifted up
mine eyes and looked '."

Hence it was that the more he was exalted, the
more did he abase himself; and the higher he was in
the favour of Q-od, the more did he lament his
unworthiness of that goodness. He knew that Jeru-
salem should be restored, and understood from the
books that the time was come; but on that account
he prayed the more earnestly, having faith in God,
that it should be. The more confirmed he was in
acceptance, the more did he fear G-od; the more
beloved he was of kings, the more fearlessly did he
rebuke them : counselling Nebuchadnezzar to " break
off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by
showing mercy to the poor':" and to his successor,
Belshazzar, disclosing all the truth. Fearing God, and
honouring kings, with fidelity and power but with love
and loyalty unshaken did he reprove them.

It is worthy of consideration, that all the inspired
writers, prophets, evangelists, and apostles, indeed
all the saints of both the Old and New Testaments,
lived under monarchies and kings; none in what
is called a free state, or popular government; thus
by obedience to man did they learn reverence towards
God, and that meekness of spirit which is in His
sight of so great price ; by looking up to His repre-

» Dan. X. 3. 6. » Dan. iv. 27.

DANIEL. 813

sentatives on earth tbey were trained to a disposition
of loyal love to the King of kings.

All the life and labour of Daniel was to keep alive
this heart of desires ; for this he fed on pulse, that
he might not defile his soul, that his wings might
be light to rise heavenward; for this he asked of
his three companions, that with him they would
"desire mercies of the God of Heaven;" for this
"he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and
gave thanks ;" for this his sleep was filled with the
communings of God as the stars come to view in
the night season ; for this he " set his face unto
the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication,
with fasting and sackcloth and ashes," in confession
of sin; for this he longed for the time as for the
morning watch, and calculated the years till Christ's
coming, with earnest desire adding to desire, looking
and longing for that coming, and hearing in answer
these words, " Blessed is he that waiteth*."

Such was Daniel, the man of desires; the flame
of his soul ever burned upward, and all human
events did but stir and fan that flame: he lived
among wars and rumours of wars; and not only
this, but it was given him to see in visions far more
than such in his own times, wars and devastations
of armies, aggressions and unjust causes flourishing,
and might prevailiug ; and the time of trouble such
as there never was since there was a nation; but
none of these things moved him, because he saw them
all so fast departing like shadows, and coming to
nought, and the Stone cut without hands becoming
a great mountain, and breaking to pieces all the king-

' Dan. xii. 12.

S14l DAJTEEL.

doms of the earth ; that is, he saw all working together
for good, and to the full establishment of the kingdom
of Christ, " the Son of Man brought the Ancient
of Days," and sitting on His judgment throne.
Therefore it was that earthly events, however griev-
ous, troublous, and perplexing, did not shake his
confidence in GJ-od, because he was a man of desires.
These his desires earnestly took hold of God, and
of nothing else ; these his desires clothed him within
and without as it were with a robe of Divine fire;
even as the Cherubin, all wisdom ; and as the Seraphin,
all love. Thus he was not once only saved from
death, but all his life was a miracle ; to live unharmed
with those Heathen kings was to be all his life in
the lion's den ; to live amidst those idolatrous nations
free from their temptations was to walk in the furnace
of fire all his days, and with the smell of fire not
passing upon him. And all this because he was a
man of desires — of desires that were with God. As
such may he be our example in these days of per-
plexity and war. Our Lord Himself fixes our eyes
on Daniel in these the last times. " When ye shall
see," He says, "the abomination spoken of by
Daniel the prophet;" — "when these things come
to pass," He says, speaking of the latter days, " see
that ye be not troubled." It is thus in the example
of the Prophet Daniel that we may watch the times
and the seasons, and in all and through all look to
Christ on His throne of judgment, with desire of
desires ; and seeing Him, may be at peace.

These our passing troubles are but clouds which
gather and roll along, and cast their mighty shadows
upon the earth before the sun appears.

The very name of Daniel signifies by interpretation

DANIEL. 315

the Judgment of G-od; to tliat Judgment he ever
looked; he had it before his eyes in all things;
it was the full manifestation of that Judgment that
he saw in vision as the consummation of all: it
was ever present with him; and to him alone, of
all the sons of men, has it been revealed of that
Judgment that he therein shall be secure, and shall
" stand in his lot at the end of the days."

SERMON XXVII.

JOEL.

JoslL ].
^ The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethnd."

Gbeat as is the variety in the works of nature, it is
no less so in the treasury of Grod's word. Though by
one and the same Spirit, and having mainly one end
and object, yet each part differs from every other;
and this diversity extends throughout ; the prophets,
for instance, are quite unlike all the rest ; and between
the prophets themselves there is a marked distinction
of character. We have seen this in the case of the
four great prophets; the same richness of variety is
even yet more striking in the twelve lesser or minor
prophets, as they are called. Not to enter into the
case of the others, we may observe this in the three of
these minor prophets which are introduced in our Sun-
day Lessons, Joel, Micah, and Habakkuk. Strongly
defined are the individual characters of each, as differ-
ent members of the same body, while all alike are
animated by one life and one spirit; or as varied
instrumenta of music made use of by one and the

JOEL. 317

same poet or musician, and chosen as best suited for
his purpose, according to the character of his message,
or the mind he would convey.

Thus the Prophet Habakkuk is remarkable for very-
striking figurative expressions, which have become
familiar in the mouths of all; as e,g, "write the
vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run
that readeth;" "they sacrifice unto their net, and
bum incense unto their drag ;" " the stone shall cry
out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall
answer it ;" " He will make my feet like hinds' feet ;"
" the just shall live by his faith ;" " although the fig-
tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the
vines," and the like ; " yet will I rejoice in the Lord."
" The Lord is in His holy Temple ; let all the earth
keep silence before Him." With these are pecu-
liarly vivid short poetic images, as " God came from
Teman;" "He stood and measured the earth;" "the
mountains saw Thee;" "the deep uttered his voice,
and lifted up his hands on high;" "the sun and
moon stood still .... at the sight of Thine arrows
they went." All this is quite peculiar to Habak-
kuk; and hence his single sayings are so treasured
and remembered.

But Micah is the one of all the prophets chosen to
foretel the place of our Lord's birth, Bethlehem
Ephrata ; being well suited for that purpose, not only
as by him our Lord declares the nature of Evangelical
righteousness, of mercy being better than sacrifice *, but
because Micah associates the mercies of the Incarnate
Son of God with pastoral scenes, well meet for the
herald of Bethlehem, with the hills especially of the

1 Mic vi. 6. 8; St. Matt. xii. ?•

318 JOEL.

Sacred Land. As in the Lesson for to-day, " Arise,
contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills
hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's
controversy." "We are impressed with the majesty
of" the everlasting hills," and think as we read of all
those Holy mountains which God has made the
places of His teaching or His wonders : — ^the Mount
Sinai where the voice of God was heard ; the Moun-
tains of Moab with the vision of Balaam; Mount
Pisgah with that of Moses ; Mount Horeb with the
still small voice speaking to Elijah; Mount Carmel
with Elijah's prayer ; Gilead, his birth-place, the
mount of healing ; Mount Sion, of holiness ; the dew
of Mount Hermon in the sorrows of David ; the
Mountain also of the Beatitudes; and Tabor, the
mount of the Transfiguration; and the Mount of
Olives with the discourse on the Day of Judgment :
and after all these we cannot but add the Mount
Calvary. These, "the strong foundations of the
earth," stand around, like witnesses of God, as He
comes to plead with His people, and appeal to what
He has done for them. With Micah the Christian
kingdom is " the mountain of the Lord's house, esta-
blished above the mountains *." Such is the proclaimer
of Bethlehem, the place of flocks : the prophet of the
new law of Christ, the love of mercy, and humble
walk with God. His expressions and images are
from the field and forest, — of the " mourning owl,"
and " wailing dragon,'* and " the bald eagle,"
and the "noise of the flock;" the Gospel is the
rest under the shadow of the fig-tree and the vine;
while the remnant of Jacob is " as a dew from the

* Mift. vu 2 ; iv. 1.

I

JOEL. 819

Lord, as showers upon the grass," or as " the flock
dwelling solitary in the wood of Carmel." The pro-
phet himself is " as when they have gathered the sum-
mer fruits, as the grape gleaners of the vintage, there
is no cluster to eat," while his "soul desireth the
first-ripe fruit." Thus speaks the Prophet Micah
where Jeremiah, in his own characteristic language,
says, " where is the love of thine espousals ?"

But how different to this is the Prophet Joel ; one
object fills his mind from first to last, one subject in
which he is altogether wrapt; no little sentences of
wisdom like Habakkuk, who might be called the
prophet of faith; no rural images like Micah, who
might be termed the prophet of mercy, but one
absorbing spirit throughout ; and the question is not
about expressions, but about the meaning and intent
of them. He is beyond all others, and it might be
said, solely and entirely the prophet of Judgment.
He is full of the trumpet ; it is in all he says ; the
trumpet of Mount Sinai is there, the trumpet of war,
the trumpet of calling assemblies, the trumpet to be
heard at the last great Day. So that our Church on
Ash Wednesday, when she would call on all her
people to prepare for judgment, has the Prophet Joel
read from the Altar instead of the Epistle ; and on
the great day of Pentecost itself, the first sermon ever
preached in the Christian Church is the declaration of
St. Peter in the words of the Prophet Joel^. The
prophet supplies not only the text, but the sermon.
And what is the prevailing tone of this prophet?
" The day," " Alas for the day I the day of the Lord,"
" the day of the Lord great and very terrible ;" this

* Acts ii. 16. 2U

820 JOEL.

is, throughout, his burden. It is one voice, one cha-
racter, one solemn loud appeal through the whole.
No pleasant instrument, as Ezekiel ; no pastoral voice,
as Micah; no dark sentences upon the harp, as
Habakkuk, but the trumpet alone.

But when we come to the detail, and the explana-
tion of particulars, what are we to consider the exact
subject of this prophet? it is, but more espe-
cially at the beginning, the description of a plague
of locusts; such as occurs in eastern countries; the
sun is hidden bj them, it is " a day of darkness and
of gloominess;" "as the morning spread upon the
mountains;" "the land is as the garden of Eden
before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness;"
" Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains
shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that
devoureth the stubble." The description is most
exact and striking in all its parts. But there is
evidently allusion to another subject throughout;
another and heavier judgment about to come is asso-
ciated with the description, and that is the army of the
Chaldeans. "A nation is come up upon my land,
strong and without number, whose teeth are the
teeth of a lion." There was one judgment close at
hand, that of the locusts; and there was another
yet to come after that, far severer and more enduring,
the desolation and captivity of Judah; but yet the
prophet speaks as if they were not two distinct things
but one, though in time far apart. The very descrip-
tion itself of the locusts, close and accurate as it is, is
at the same time figurative and allegorical of an armed
host. In detailing one it foretels the other. Nor is
this aU ; it cannot be so. For we may notice that
through the whole there occasionally occur expressions

JOEL. 321

too great for either of these fulfilments, or any thing
of a temporal character. It is throughout the great
and terrible day of the Lord coming and nigh at hand,
"and who can abide it?" In confirmation of which
we know that our Blessed Saviour Himself, in His
description of the Day of Judgment on the Mount of
Olives, takes these expressions of the signs in Heaven
from the Prophet Joel, and says they are then to be
fulfilled. And St. Peter likewise, on the Day of Pen-
tecost, explains these passages in Joel to be the solemn
call to repentance before the coming of the Great
Day, bringing forward those words to which our Lord
had before referred ; — " The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great
and the terrible Day of the Lord come." And St.
John, in the Eevelation describing the last days, ad-
duces the like expressions from this prophet : " Put
ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe : come get you
down, for the press is full." These are the words of
the Prophet Joel, but in the Eevelation St. John men-
tions this as the saying of the Angel, when " one like
unto the Son of Man " descends, sitting upon a cloud,
and having " in his hand a sharp sickle." The angel
says, " Thrust in thy sickle and reap ; for the time is
come." And again another angel cries with a loud
voice, "Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the
clusters of the vine*." Then follows in Joel a still
more distinct mention of the judgment, " Multitudes,
multitudes, in the valley of decision : for the day of
the Lord is near."

!N'ow this introducing into the same description
many judgments is much to be observed, because it is

« O'oel iii. 13; Kev. xiv. 14. 18.

822 JOEL.

the case usually in tHe Bible, with a particular purpose
of G-od, that more than one thing is contained in the
same prophecy; — one near aiyl soon to happen, the
other more distant ; one of things temporal, the other
of things eternal. It is the case in our Lord's account
of the Day of Judgment ; He speaks at the same time of
His coming in the fall of Jerusalem, and at the end of
the world. Thus the prophecy of Jacob is of some things
just about to be, and some after a long time, and some
not till the last days. And these descriptions of Joel
some explain only of the Babylonian army; others, of the
locusts only ; others, only of the Last Day ; and hence
the confusion of interpretation, for it is in fact of all.
The vision indeed is but one as present to the pro-
phet's eye ; he sees but one scene, though it combines
many things, — the locusts, the Chaldean army, the
array of the last Coming. The events are differing in
time, for speaking in the Spirit of God he partakes of
the Eternal, and knows not distinction of days ; differ-
ing in circumstances, but partaking of one character,
for they are all of one judgment of Q-od ; many judg-
ments indeed as men behold them, but all leading
unto one, and blending into one, and perfected in one,
the full and final retribution of God.

Our Blessed Saviour sometimes speaks of things
separate in point of time as if they were equally pre-
sent to Him. For time is short and eternity is long.
So is it throughout the Scripture ; so will it be with
us when released from the body ; so even now so far
as we partake of the mind of God.

Now the object of thus mixing up things toge-
ther is partly for the sake of the prophecy itself^
that when men see that one sense has been fulfilled,
it may be a pledge and earnest to them of the other

JOEL. 823

also. But this is not the only purpose ; for it is likewise
to teach us that the events of life, even now, to those
who will attend to them, do prepare the way and give
signals and notes of preparation for the last end of all
things ; and things are fulfilled in each one of us even
now which foretell and foreshadow the great and gene-
ral consummation. Thus, to take an instance which
may come home to us aU, some are perplexed in ex-
plaining the Scriptural account which speaks of the
coming of the Last Day, as speedy and sudden ; or of
some particular circumstances in that description, as
of the failure of the Sun, Moon, and Stars. But each
living soul, as he passes through this earthly scene,
has a sort of fulfilment of this in himself: for life
always seems very short when it is gone, and death
always sudden when it has come to each ; the sun and
the moon being hidden &om him, and the stars falling,
has in each one of us a fulfilment, when at death this
temporal visible scene, this course of night and day,
this world in which we behold the sun, moon, and
stars, is for ever at an end as far as we are concerned,
and our eyes open upon another world which has nei-
ther the sun nor moon to lighten it. In the case of
each one of us, it is true that ^' the night is far spent,
the day is at hand ;" in each it is fulfilled, '' Behold I
come quickly, and My reward is with Me ;" " the sun
and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall not
give their light ;" "then shall ye see the Son of Man."
I do not mean to say that this is the meaning of those
sayings, but that thus on a smaller scale we may know
that so much is fulfilled among us daily as to keep our
faith alive and wakeful respecting the great things fore-
told of the future.
Another instance of the like kind niay be mentioned \

324 JOEL.

when alarmed at any extraordinarj visitation men hare
always been apt to think that the Great Daj has
come; it is no doubt so intended of God that they
should so connect things, and in all His judgments be
led to consider the great and the last of all. JS'ow this
is what Ho does here by the Prophet Joel.

I may mention a circumstance which may illustrate
herein the mercy and goodness of God. The holy
Bishop Ken, whose Morning and Evening Hymns we
sing in Church, ever laboured to keep up in his mind
a constant and earnest sense of the Last Day ; and in
a very beautiful Poem* of his he represents himself as
hearing, in a dream, the sound of the last Trumpet;
and that his guardian angel, on his inquiry, told him
that this had been his doing; that, grieved at the
lukewarmness of mankind, and seeing one of the seven
Archangels from God's throne that are to sound the
last Trumpet of the Great Day, he had asked him to
breathe but one note of that terrible blast in the ear
of him of whom he had the charge, in order to awaken
him. The holy man goes on to state in his Poem that
the remembrance of that vision and his thoughts on
that occasion made him ever afterwards watchful.
To this I may further add the saying of St. Jerome,
" Whether I eat or drink, or whatever I do, oh ! that
that Trumpet may ever sound in my ears. Arise, ye
dead, and come to judgment!"

We may see then how gracious is this one great
lesson which God would impress upon us by His Pro-
phet Joel, of constantly hearing the Trumpet-call and
realizing the Great Day. Joel indeed is in this re-

» See "The Trumpet." Bishop Ken's Works, voL iv. p. 50,
edit. MDCCxxi.

JOEL. 825

spect the type of the Christian Minister whose office
is to " preach " (iciypverwir), that is, to herald or pro-
claim the kingdom of God, which is as it were to bear
the trumpet. They are like the angels whom the
Lord sends to gather His elect from the four winds
"with a great sound of a trumpet®." And of our
Lord Himself in the Eevelation, when He sent His
messages to the Seven Churches, St. John says, "I was
in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and heard behind me
a great voice as of a trumpet '." Such is His voice in
the Prophet Joel. And how trumpet-like, how awaken-
ing and alarming throughout is the whole style and
strain of this His inspired herald ! Some characters
are naturally capable of a more sustained and intense
contemplation of the great Hereafter than others ; and
this prophet seems to have been such. Thus when
Micah says, "They shall beat their swords into plow-
shares," Joel on the contrary speaks of their " Beat-
ing their plowshares into swords*," which is like our
Lord's own expression, "lam not come to send peace,
but a sword;" "He that hath no sword, let him sell
his garment and buy one." As if saying, now is the
time for every effort. All is as the season of watching,
of earnest preparation, for " the hour is come," " the
Day is at hand."

Before concluding another remarkable point must
be mentioned in the Prophet Joel, which is a voice of
joy and exultation that is combined throughout with
the terrible theme, and pervades each subject of his
prophecy. Pirst, when Grod shall " restore the years
which the locusts have eaten;" and, secondly, when on

« St. Matt. xxiv. 31. ' Rev. i. 10; iv. 1.

^ Micah iv. 3 ; Joel Liu 10.

826 JOEL.

the Day of Pentecost the Spirit sliall be poured on all
flesh for the restoration of the world ; on both of whicli
occasions there occur expressions far beyond any tem-
poral fulfilment ; but lastly and more than all, in what
is yet to be when the harvest shall have come ; when
the sun and moon shall fail, but " the liord shall be
the strength of His people," rejoicing over " the rem-
nant which the Lord shall call.'*

Now in noticing the character of this prophet this
circumstance also is full of instruction, as showing that
the more we are impressed with a serious expectation
of the Great Day, the more shall we be able to look
forward to it with joy and comfort. Some have felt
this at the near approach of death ; so much so that
afterwards, on an unexpected recovery, when again
taken up by the world, they have complained of
losing that peace and joy which they had experienced
even at the sight of the King of Terrors, and have
missed that light which was around their Lord's pre-
sence when He appeared to them in the valley of the
shadow of death.

Look always to the Great Day of the Lord, as St.
John did, and you will be able to say with him, " Even
so come!"

SERMON XXVIIL

JOB.

St. Jambs ▼. 11 •

^ Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end
of the Lord."

God has been pleased to choose a man in the early
ages of the world as an example of patience, and
gifted him in a very extraordinary manner, that he
might be an inspired teacher unto the very end of
time. Patience was the virtue most needful to man
in a state of Heathenism and ignorance, yet it is no
less so in Christian times ; indeed, it may be observed
that no grace is spoken of in connexion with the last
day more than that of patience. " In your patience,"
says our Lord, "possess ye your souls." And St. Paul,
" The Lord direct your hearts into the patient waiting
for Christ \" It is set before us as the great perfec-
tion of faith. " The trying of your faith," says St.
James, " worketh patience : but let patience have her
perfect work." And of charity it is said, charity " suf-

1 8 Theas. iii. 5.

328 JOB.

fereth long," is long-patient. And above all, in tte
Apocalypse ; the crown of God is in " the patience of
the saints." St. John himself is " in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ." The praise of Christ
is *^ thou hast borne, and hast patience, and for Mj
name's sake hast not fainted." And " because thou
hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep
thee from the hour of temptation which shall come
upon all the world *." So that the example of Job
may be a warm light to cheer and guide in the very
night of Antichrist itself; and never more needed than
in " the great tribulation." He is for Christians them-
selves the teacher of patience held out to them by an
Apostle ; he has been raised as it were into the firma-
ment, there to shine for ever and ever, as a pattern of
long-suffering, in the kingdom of God.

And now we cannot but adore the Divine wisdom
in choosing this man ; and the wonderful manner in
which it has been done, when God selected him to put
him among the stars to give light unto the world ; and
why he is so singularly suited for this purpose. For
observe how, to clothe his example with attractive-
ness, and embalm it as a living monument to all ages,
God endowed him with a singular power of thought
and language ; so that for poetic beauty and sublimity
there is nothing equal to the Book of Job in the world,
from the earliest time to this ; there is a greatness of
conception in all the words that he utters or details,
majesty and simplicity, together with a touching power
of reaching the heart ; so that it is remarkable how
often persons in the deepest affliction are found with
the Book of Job in their hands. It is a Divine mirror

* Rev . 7Lu\. \<i \ \. ^ \ \\. Z \ \i.u 10,

JOB. 829

into which they are given to look, and are comforted :
a stream in which we behold ourselves, and at the
same time wonders of the deep, jewels of every hue,
living things, and reflections of the skies. More than
once in our Burial Service the thrilling words of Job
fall on our ears ; very many of its memorable sentences
are in all mouths.

But now Job was a G-entile among Gentiles ; and
how does this and all other things add a lustre to his
example. To teach us patience one is chosen who has
no knowledge of the Gospel, nor was Christ revealed
to him ; he is not even of the sacred nation taught by
the Law, by the oracles of God, and the prophets or
the example of the saints, but is one from among the
nations, in the earlier and dark times of the world.
Nay, he does not appear to have known definitely a
future state after death, or that condition of everlast-
ing bliss or grief which makes up for all the evils of
this life, and renders its heaviest ills to be but '^a
light affliction which is but for a moment." "For a
Christian to be patient who has before him the exam^
pie of Christ it were not so much ; for one to whom
the promises of God had been made it were not so
much; nor to one who was in covenant with God;
but to one instructed only in the wisdom of nature
this grace were far more difficult, and therefore by so
much the more excellent. And in like manner did all
things else respecting him tend to enhance, and per-
fect, and make bright the example of his patience.
For one to suffer poverty, hardship, and sickness, who
had always been used to them, the trial of patience
had not been so great ; but Job was cast down from
the very highest state of earthly prosperity. " Thou hast
taken me up and cast me down." His forooieY Y^<2>"«^'ec^

830 JOB.

adds weight to his fall. It were no great trial for onewho
had always been childless to continue to be so ; but for
one who had been singularly blessed with children the
bereavement was very severe. And again all external
hardships are comparatively easy to be borne if health
of body remains ; but in bodily suffering, as Satan him-
self said, far more is the temptation to impatience.
Yet further, sickness of body itself is far more tole^
able if the heart is whole ; for " the spirit of a man will
sustain his infirmity," says Solomon, " but a wounded
spirit who can bear'?" whereas anguish and deso-
lation of heart were as the dregs of the cup which Job
had to drink. " The arrows of the Almighty," he says,
" are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my
spirit ; the terrors of God do set themselves in amy
against me *." Yet more — even in desolation of mind
it is something to have a comforter in one nearest and
dearest, it is a strength of good, and greatly lessens
the trial ; but to Job all evils were aggravated by the
wife of his bosom. And lastly, — the support of ma^
tyrs throughout the world has been the countenance
of friends who know and value their integrity, and
the testimony of their sufferings ; but Job's fiiends
laboured to take from him the peace and comfort of a
good conscience ; he had nothing to support him bat
the sense of his innocence, and they with much show
of wisdom and holiness endeavoured to spoil him of
that. Nay, far worse than all, God Himself seemed to
have deserted him, and given him up into the hands of
Satan.

But now how did every evil in succession add to his
crown ? In prosperity he greatly feared God amidst

» ProY. xvm. 14. * Job vi. 4.

JOB. 831

blessings so great; but Us losses and bereavements
drew out his thankfulness ; and with unequalled and
awful sublimity it is added, " Then Job arose, and rent
his mantle, and fell down upon the ground, and wor-
shipped." " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken
awaj ; blessed be the name of the Lord *." His wife's
evil counsel gave him the opportunity of teaching her
wisdom and goodness; his friends' reproaches deep-
ened his humiliation and renunciation of all self-righte-
ousness. It was indeed a contest between God and
Satan, and every art of the great enemy was turned to
the glory of God, and the perfecting of His saint,
whom He foreknew, and chose, and sanctified, and glo-
rified. To the wicked the things that should have
been to their wealth are an occasion of falling ; but
with the good the things that should have been occa-
sion of falling are to them exceeding wealth.

It was not his temptations that caused his patience,
but brought it out to view ; as the brightness of the
firmament comes forth in the darkness. In the time
of prosperity he remembered God ; he " rose up early
in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings " for his
sons. And this "continually." Such sacrifices
were, though he knew it not, the remembrance of
Christ before God, and acceptable to Him. He had
the testimony of God beforehand, that there was "none
like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man,
fearing God and avoiding evil." And in the course of
the book itself, it appears that he had been the very
pattern of all goodness ; pure in heart, he made a
covenant with his eyes ; just, hospitable, full of mercy
and good fruits, the father of the fatherless, and the

< Job i. 20, 21.

882 JOB.

friend of the widow, open-hearted, open-Handed, open-
housed. But one thing he lacked, bj tribulation te
be brought to the secret knowledge of Christ. To
thank God in the midst of blessings this was mucb;
but from the lowest depth of bereavement to bless
Gt)d, this was to come near to the hidden mystery of
Christ, to the life which is laid up with Christ in Grod.
Pearful indeed and wonderful were his trials, but more
fearful and wonderful was his crown. We obseryed
that he was a Gentile, and had not that knowledge
which revelation has given us ; but by his patience all
these wants were supplied. The Gospel had not for
him " shed its light on immortality ;" but by faith he
had what was equivalent to it, he had trust in the
Everlasting God ; ** the eternal God was his refuge,"
and he felt " beneath him the everlasting arms." He
was known of G^, and he knew God by &ith, and
" the knowledge of God is eternal life." He could not
speak of eternity because it was not revealed, bat
beneath his inner soul there was that which leaned on
God— the living God — so that his life was with God.
And thus " imto the godly there ariseth up light in the
darkness;" "He shall never be moved," "for his
heart standeth fast, and believeth in the Lord *." By
patience he put his soul into the hand of God ; so that
in the destruction of his natural body, by faith he
could look forward, and take hold of that great doc-
trine, the resurrection of the flesh '. In the striking
expression of St. Augustine, " worms were breeding
without, but immortality within •."

Again, he knew nothing of Christ as we do ; not

* Ps. cxii. 6, 7. 'See Job xix, 25. 27.

* lii Yiu xiML. 'X \ ^^V, VI. 196.

JOB. 833

even it may be as the prophets did, or as Abraham
when God's covenant was made with him; but by
means of his sore trials in some wonderful and mys-
terious way he came to the knowledge of Christ
Crucified ; for in this contest that he underwent by
some especial power, or vision of Grod, that was made
known to him, which made all his former knowledge
to be as nothing. "I have uttered,'* he says at last,
" that I understood not ; things too wonderful for me."
" I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but
now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor my-
self, and repent in dust and ashes '." Thus the result
of this knowledge was the same as that which appeared
in ihe most signal instances of faith in the Grospels in
those who beheld Christ ; in St. Peter, in the Cen-
turion, the Canaanitish woman and others. "Now
mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself."

And now we must consider the trials of Job as
leading to this end. When Grod spake to Elijah, it
was not from the whirlwind, nor from the fire and
earthquake, but in the still small voice which spake of
the meekness and mercies of the Grospel. But to Job,
"the Lord answered," it is said, "out of the whirl-
wind," even as He spoke to Israel out of the fire and
earthquake of Mount Sinai. It was out of the whirl-
wind, the terrible storm of affliction raised by the
prince of this world, that Grod communed with Job ;
and when He spake it was of His mighty works, of
the wonders of His hand in creation ; of the gates of
death that open at His bidding ; of the dwelling-places
of the light and the darkness ; of the treasures of the
snow, of the ordinances of the starry Heavens ; of the

• Job zlii. 3. 5, 6.

334i JOB.

wild beasts and birds of His hand, the eagle, the uni-
corn, the Leviathan. For thus Groi speaks to the
natural man of His Almighty power and wisdom,
that man may be humbled before Him and learn
patience. Thus was Job taught that he might put
his hand on his mouth and be humbled before Ood ;
and BO he was ; he rejected not this teaching of God,
and thus perfected in the school of patience, he heard
at length the "still small voice" which spake of
Christ ; nay, in his secret spirit within he beheld Him,
and then heard His approving voice.

" Thus," says St. Augustine, " was it given him by
inspiration to know beforehand the passion of Christ,
and to understand how patiently he himself ought to
endure, if Christ in "Whom there was no sin yet
refused not obedience to His passion, which when
Job understood in the pure intention of his heart he
added, * but now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I
abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' In
which great understanding he was displeasing to him-
self; not as the work of God, but he looked on himself as
dust and ashes in beholding the righteousness of Christ
in "Whom there could be no sin *." And in another
place the same writer observes of Job, that it was thna
Divinely provided that we might see how out of the
nations one might belong to the spiritual Jerusalem,
which could only be by having revealed to him the
only Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ
Jesus *.

All the sufferings of Job were to bring him to this
knowledge; before his trials he had the testimony

* De Peccat. Mer. Lib. ii. 16. vol. x.

» De Civ. Dei, Lib. xviii, cap. xlvii. vol. vii.

JOB. 335

of God that lie was beyond all perfect and upright,
but this he still needed. Therefore was Satan allowed
to try him, and to put forth all his power ; and we
may be sure from this that the temptations were the
most severe that could have occurred to any man ; not
only in estate, in domestic bereavement, and bodily
suffering, but under circumstances which would render
these most aggravating. A temper naturally sensi-
tive and quick ; his own wife, who should have been
his support and helpmate, acting the part of Eve, and
becoming herself the tempter ; and his friends that
should have comforted him, greatly adding to his
sorrows, by attributing them to his own faults. With
losses, with wounds, with woes innumerable, with
many deaths of those most dear, with reproaches of
those that should comfort, he strengthens himself
against all with remembrances of a conscience void of
offence towards God and man — in hopeless state he
maintains still his hope in God, saying, " though He
slay me, yet will I trust in Him.*' After all he had
brought upon him the enemy looked in upon him as
in mockery, through his wife upbraiding him, and
through his friends with much show of wisdom, and
words smoother than oil, but very swords. In his
goods, in his children, in his body had he smitten him,
but in all this he magnified God; he had not yet
reached his heart ; this is what through all he assailed,
and all this beautiful and Divine book is of the means
he took to insert his poisonous wounds into his soul,
but prevailed not. It is not his external calamities,
but the wounded spirit that embodies itself in such
incomparable eloquence of expression which draws the
heart of the afflicted unto Job. Satan had said that a
man will give all for his life, but Job shows that hia

836 JOB.

afflictions were worse than deatb. " Oh that I had
given up the ghost," he sajs, " and that no eye had
seen me!" "Why is life given unto the bitter in
soul? who long for death, but it cometh not; who
rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find
the grave." And what was ever so deeply affecting
as those his words throughout the seventh chapter and
some others ? The expressions of his exceeding deso-
lation of heart bring to mind our Lord's own words on
the Cross, " My Grod, my God, why hast Thou forsaken
Me ?" "While under the softness of his friends' words
we seem to hear the voice of the great enemj as he
spake afterwards through the Jews, " He trusted
in God that He would deliver him ; let Him
deliver him now if He will have him." And then, in
his exceeding humiliation, the voice of distressed
nature from the lowest depth of affliction in agony of
spirit, seems calling out for a Mediator, a Daysman,
an Advocate. " If I wash myself with snow water,
and make my hands never so clean ; yet shalt Thou
plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall
abhor me. Tor He is not a man as I am, that we
should come together in judgment. Neither is
there any daysman betwixt us *." Our Lord Himself in
Heaven hears, and seems to take up his words by His
prophet : " I looked, and there was none to help ; and
I wondered that there was none to uphold : therefore
Mine own arm brought salvation *."

In the first mention of Job it appears that Qoi
had set His love upon him. And how was this love
shown, but by putting on him this heavj burden of
affliction, that thus he might come to know Christ,

' Job vx. 30— 33« * laa. IxiiL 6.

JOB. 337

and to be made like unto Him. He has at the very first
the praise of Grod. " Possessing riches," as says St.
Augustine, " he was not possessed by them ;" so that
when he lost all His gifts he lost not Him that gave.
The more poor he was in spirit, the more rich he was
in God. He is then cast into the furnace of affliction,
and comes out as pure gold, tried in the fire. His
friends had said much that was wise and good as
became the natural man, according to the wisdom of
this world, which is foolishness with God ; but they
had not come like Job to the knowledge of Christ.
This was the great difference. Therefore he whom
they had despised had to intercede for them, while
they offered sevenfold sacrifices, for they needed ex-
piation for what they had done in ignorance. And he
in the likeness of Christ is accepted for them.

To conclude, we see then that great suffering is the
reward of great obedience. " My son, if thou come to
serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation*."
None of us knows what may yet await him; if nothing
else, yet how the suffering of death, or of sickness
which precedes death, may even yet find us out with a
deep searching sorrow such as that of Job. And this
may be the highest reward of God in this world.
" Blessed is the man that endureth temptation ; for
when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love
HimV

' Ecclus. ii. 1. ' St. James i. 12.

SERMON XXIX

ISAIAH.

St. John xii. 41.

^ These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of
Him."

St. John here tells us that when the Prophet speab
of seeing the Lord sitting on His throne, as described
in the sixth chapter of Isaiah, it is of Christ and the
glorj of His kingdom that he speaks. But the words
may be taken as expressing the whole character of the
prophecies of Isaiah ; " he saw His glory," the glory
of Christ, "and spake of Him." Beyond all the
prophets he beheld and spake of Christ. And not that
only, but the expression he saw is peculiarly spoken of
Isaiah; his prophecy is called "the vision." "Esay
the prophet," says the son of Sirach, " who was great
and faithful in his vision \" Thus the first words or
title of his book is, " The vision of Isaiah, the son of
Amoz, which he saw." And again, in the beginning
of the second chapter, " The word that Isaiah the son
of Amoz saw." A remarkable expression, " the word

ISATAH. 339

which he saw," like that of St. John, " That which
was from the beginning, which we have seen with our
eyes, the Word of Life." But the word "vision"
especially belongs to Isaiah, as he seems to behold
with the eyes in a vivid and strong manner, and not
only to hear of the things which he speaks. As Job
says when purified by his trials, " I have heard of Thee
by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth
Thee."

But what is it of which the Evangelist says in the
Text that Isaiah spoke when he thus beheld Christ P
It is of the rejection of the Jews. "He hath
blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that
they should not see with their eyes, nor understand
vdth their heart." This then is the burden of Isaiah.
And this vision recorded in the sixth chapter may very
well serve to set forth the character, and indeed briefly
contains the sum of all his prophecies.

" In the year," he says, " that king TJzziah died, I
saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up." As the temporal Israel began to decline and
wane away, just before the death of that leprous king
who invaded the Priest's office, he beholds the Throne
of Christ in the Temple, and the " ministering spirits "
giving thanks to the Ever-blessed Trinity, in Whose
Name Christians are baptized ; and sees the kingdom
of Christ filling the world. "Above it stood the
seraphims:" . . . "and one cried imto another, and
said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts ; the whole
earth is full of His glory." And then at the sound
the door posts of that visible temple were moved, as
ready to depart; and the prophet in humiliation
laments his uncleanness, as fdl the saints do in the
manifestation of Christ. "Then said I, Woe ia ixi^V
z 2

840 ISATAH.

for I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell amidst a people of unclean lips ; for mine
eves have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Here
the effect of this spiritual lumination within which
God bestows is as it was with Job, who when he says,
" but now mine eye seeth Thee," adds " wherefore I
abhor myself." So it is with the prophet, "Woe is
me ! for I am undone."

Such is the spirit which pervades Isaiah's prophe-
cies throughout. And not less expressive is that
which follows. "Then flew one of the seraphims
unto me, having a live coal in his hand, from off the
altar : and he Ijaid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo,
this hath touched thy lips." "And I heard the voice
of the Lord, saying. Whom shall I send, and who will
go for us ? Then said I, Here am I ; send me."
This alacrity with which he complies, " not disobedient
unto the heavenly vision," marks the cheerful love
and brave confidence of Isaiah. The very words of his
acceptance express the ready obedience of an Apostle,
not obedience only, but a willing offer of service.
And the Seraphim touching his lips, admitting him as
it were into their company about the throne, burning
with Seraphic knowledge ; and the live coal from the
altar ; how it all expresses the character of his prophe-
cies; conveying by his words a holy flame into the
cold hearts of men, to inspire them with love and
divine knowledge, purifying their hearts as by flre, and
this too from the altar ; for all is of the sacrifice of
Christ, of His atonement and Godhead. Yet wonder-
ful to say this his Evangelic or Angelic commission is
to seal up the eyes and ears of the Jews, for it is added,
" And He said. Go, and tell this people. Hear ye
indeed, but xmieT^feMidTVQt "

ISAIAH. 341

The Spirit of God who marks His manifestations by
sensible signs ; by the dove at onr Lord's Baptism ; by
the fiery and cloven tongues at Pentecost ; He speaks
through Isaiah with the altar coal of the Seraphim.
And as music partakes of the character of the instru-
ment on which it is played, so the temper of the pro-
phet was no doubt suited to the Heavenly hand and
the finger of God. The very mode in which their
mission was conveyed characterized the prophets.
Ezekiel was given to eat of the roll ; the mouth of
Jeremiah was touched by the hand of the Lord giving
him power of speech ; but Isaiah was thus set apart
by a yet more solemn and sublime consecration, by
the vision of Christ in His Church. Yet further, by
Moses in the burning bush was Christ seen as the
Everlasting God; by the children of Israel as the
Judge in the terrors of Mount Sinai ; by St. Stephen
standing on the right hand of God to aid ; by St. Paul
in brightness beyond the sun to convince ; by St. John
in the Apocalypse as the High Priest that liveth for
ever ; but by Isaiah as sitting on the throne of His
kingdom, and the whole earth full of His glory ; and
then receiving fipom the hands of the Seraphim his
commission with a loving faith, not as a prophet only,
but one might say as an Evangelist and Apostle.
It is remarkable, that his very name should signify
" the salvation of the Lord !"

And thus we find that when the Gospel was first
preached the testimony of Isaiah is referred to as if
he had been already the teacher of it all ; he bears
witness, and witness is borne to him ; so that he is
more quoted in the New Testament than all the other
prophets put together. As soon as John the Baptist

342 ISAIAH.

begins to preach he refers to the Prophet Isaiah as
calling him the "voice crying in the wilderness."
When the Bible was given to our XiOrd Himself to
read in His first preaching in the synagogue at Naza-
reth, it was the Prophet Isaiah from which He read,
when He said, " This day is this Scripture fulfilled in
your ears '." And when He went from thence to
Capernaum, it was the Prophet Isaiah, says the Evan-
gelist, that described His going as the light sprmging
up in the dark land. When the Baptist sent two
of his disciples to inquire if He were the Christ, our
Lord caUed their attention to those particular worb
which Isaiah had described in the Messiah. And He
Himself when there rejected said, " Well did Esaias
prophesy of you *." When the Spirit sent Philip to
convert the Ethiopian eunuch it was in the Prophet
Isaiah that he was reading of Christ. When St. Paul
first taught at Borne it was the testimony of Isaiah
which he pointed out to his countrymen ; it was to the
same Prophet Isaiah he had so often appealed before
in his Epistle to the Eomans. And thus it has conti-
nued afterwards in the Church. St. Augustine men-
tions in his Confessions, that when he asked St
Ambrose what book he should read on his conversion,
he was told by him the Prophet Isaiah *. St. Jerome
speaks of wishing to expound him as rather an Apostle
and Evangelist than a prophet ; as being himself one
of those of whom he himself says, "How beautiful
on the mountains are the feet of those that preach the
Gospel of peace * ! "

2 St. Luke iv. 21. * St. Matt. xv. ^.

* Lib. ix. cap. v. voL i. 276. ' ProcDin. in Com. Isa.

ISAIAH. 843

So thorougUy is the Gospel interwoven witli Isaiah's
prophecies. All the history of our Lord's coming in
the flesh is there to be found ; the forerunner pre-
paring the way before Him ; His birth of a virgin as
our Immanuel; His flight into Egypt; His gentle
mode of teaching, with no strife, nor crying, nor voice
beard in the streets ; His healing miracles, as opening
the eyes of the blind, and ears of the deaf; all the par-
ticulars of His suffering and passion as by an eye-wit-
ness ; as the Man of sorrows, set at nought, wounded,
smitten with stripes, and stricken, yet silent as a lamb
brought to the slaughter ; His death and burial ; His
Resurrection, and His sending of the Comforter ; the
call of the Gentiles ; and His coming again to judg-
ment; and in conclusion of all the final state of the
good, and of the wicked, with which his prophecies
terminate, of the worm that dieth not, and the fire that
is not quenched. All these he describes expressly;
but more than all is his prophecy pervaded and lumi-
nated with the Gospel; the vision, the rapt vision
into the things of God is so peculiarly his. He is full
of warnings and of judgments ; and in his near admis-
sion unto the throne of God clouds and darkness are
round about him; but every cloud is full of light,
every judgment is lined or penetrated with the Gos-
pel, its comforts and its glory.

His vision — the range of his spiritual sight — is so
extensive, that he mourns not as circumscribed by
passing troubles and the rejection of the Jews,
but exults and breaks forth into a strain of thank-
fulness at the call of the Gentiles. " Lift up thine
eyes round about and behold ; all these gather them-
selves together and come to thee." " Thou shalt surely
clothe thee with them aU,as with an omament,as a bride

844 ISAIAH.

doeth*." Surely if the Seraphims about the throne
sing in anticipation of the G-ospel it must be in strains
such as these of Isaiah. As this prophet says of the
Jews, He hath hlinded their eyes, that they should
not see; so of himself it might be said. He hath
opened his eyes and given him to behold His glory.
They, when in the midst of it, saw it not : he, though
afar off, beheld Him as nigh. They looked upon Him
with their bodily eyes, but they beheld Him not : he saw
Him in the spirit so vividly that he spake of His Cru-
cifixion and the scenes of His life as if he had been
present. It is as it were vision and not prophecy.

Again ; the very words and images with which he
describes the Gospel are such that even we, with our
knowledge, could find no more glowing or suitabb
terms with which to speak of it. It is " a tabernacle
shadowing from the heat, a place of refuge, a covert
fipom the storm;" "peace flowing like the river;"
"light springing up in the land of the shadow of
death;" " sins as scarlet made white as snow ;" "sal-
vation appointed for walls and bulwarks ;" the wild
beasts led by the little child ; " the glorious Lord unto
us a place of rivers and streams ^." Nothing could be
more descriptive of the prophet himself, in these his
Divine gifts, than are his own words, "Thine eyes
shall see the King in His beauty ; they shaU behold
the land that is very far off •."

Such, then, is the first and greatest of prophets
whose writings come down to us ; but there is no one
whose prophecies are less marked, by his own peculiar

• Isa. xlix. 18.

' Isa. iv. 6 ; ix. 2; i. 18; xxvi. 1 ; xxxiiL 2|.

' Isa. xxxiii. 21.

ISAIAH. 845

disposition and character, or which connect themselves
so little with the circumstances of his own history.
Ezekiel speaks of himself, and Jeremiah much of his
own sorrows ; but Isaiah does not so. He comes before
us indeed in the Book of Kings, but it is only to deli-
ver messages of the same sublime and exalted cha-
racter as his written prophecies ; to Hezekiah on his
sickness, and on his recovery, of God's judgments, and
the answer of God to the threats of Sennacherib. His
miracles, too, are of the same kind, great and wonder-
ful, such as the going back of the sun, and the angel
smiting the Assyrian host. "Ask thou a sign," he
says in sublimest words to Ahaz, "in the heavens
above, or in the depth below." He does not appear
mixed up with the events of his time, on which he
bore to his people the Divine messages, but seems in
spirit apart, as conversing with God. He does not, as
David in the Psalms, speak of his own individual trials,
in which Christ was the strength of his soul ; nor as
Jeremiah, suffering with the sins and sufferings of the
Jews; but ever sees beyond the glories of Christ's
kingdom,— and the vast, awful, eternal year. His very
first words are, " Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O
Earth," as if about to speak of things which angels
as well as men desire to look into.

In like manner of his own history itself nothing is
said. It is often spoken of by early writers ' as " a
most certain tradition," of which there was no doubt
in the Church, that he died a martyr, being " sawn
asunder" by Manasses;-of whose father, Hezekiah,
he had been the friend and counsellor; but these

• St. Aug. Civ. Dei, vol. viii. p. 813. Tertull. De Pat. St.
Jerome.

846 ISAIAH.

and like trials leading to bis martyrdom, are not
mentioned in Scripture ; it is also supposed that he
was, like Daniel, of a princely family, but there is no
evidence of this, unless it be in the character of his
style of writing. From the throne of kings he is
brought near to the throne of God, surpafising in sub-
limity all the prophets. But in the shadow of that
throne he is hidden. Like the Priestly Prince Md-
chizedeck, his earthly belongings are not known, for
his life is with Christ in Gk)d. In the prophecies which
he has to deliver, heavy judgments are conveyed ; but
they are always the occasion of bis looking forward
&om them to the everlasting mercies which are with
G-od ; whatever calamities he had to endure, they are
not mentioned by him, for his eyes were looking afer
off; and "men have not perceived by the ear," he
says, " neither hath the eye seen what Q-od hath pre-
pared for him that waiteth for him*." And as the one
great subject interwoven with, lying under, in and be-
yond all his sayings, is the first and the second com-
ing of Christ, so as far as we can learn any thing of his
own spirit and temper of mind, it is that especially in
which we are to wait for the comings of God. To take
and understand his prophecies aright we are to be like
him, lifting our hearts above earthly things, heeding
them not, seeing them not, on account of the great
and glowing flood of light that is poured down afiur in
the opening of the heavens. " All flesh," he cries,
"is grass *;" but it is in order to add, " O Zion, that
bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high
mountain*."

To conclude, we observed that ancient writers

1 lsa.\xw. 4. ' Isa. xl. C. 9.

ISAIAH. 347

"wislied to explain Isaiah rather as an Evangelist than
a prophet, now this it is which the Church does for
us, and in fact supplies us with the best commentary,
"bj reading this prophet so entirely, both on Sundays
and week days, during this season of Advent. We
must all know that passing events, times, and occa-
sions, throw a light upon Scripture, in a marvellous
and surprising manner, draw out its meaning, and
forcibly apply it, more than any observations of our
own could possibly do. And none of us can say how
much the reading of Isaiah at this time of Advent has
served to furnish us with the fuller understanding of
this Evangelical prophet. It thus also serves to carry
on and hold up this great light to the last days of
Antichrist, as doubtless it has been divinely intended ;
according to that description given of him in Ecclesi-
asticus, " He saw by an excellent spirit what should
come to pass at the last, and he comforted them that
mourned in Sion. He showed what should come to
pass for ever and secret things or ever they came *."
The time, too, when this great prophet came forward,
is to be noticed ; it was in the decline of the temporal
Israel ; all things prepared for their ruin ; then it was
that the visions of Isaiah were turned to the future ;
then was faith taught. Something of this kind seems
likely to be hereafter.

Again, how was he instated in this his high calling?
it was by the coal from the. altar on his lips : and what
does this signify to us ? in an assembly of Christians
I need not say ; it is the Body of Christ, sacrificed for
us, full of His Godhead as with living fire. In ap-
proaching we say, (Sursum corda,) "Lift up your

' Ecclus. xlviii. 24.

848 ISAIAH.

hearts," and the answer is, " We lift them up unto
the Lord."

The warnings of Isaiah are to us like sounds of tlie
ArchangePs trumpet, great, glorious, but very awfuL
" Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth," is tlie
sound ; for, as the Psalmist sajs, ** He shall call the
Heavens from ahove and the earth, that He maj judge
His people ;" and who are these His chosen ? "Ga-
ther Mjr saints," He says, " together unto Me ; those
that have made a covenant with Me with sacrifice."

SERMON XXX.

THE ANTICHEIST.

2 Thess. ii. 3.

*' Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not
come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of
sin be revealed, the son of perdition."

St. Paul here speaks of the coming of the wicked one
before the end of the world, the " man of sin ;" and
St. John, in his Epistle, speaks of the same under the
name of "the Antichrist," or the enemy of Christ,
under which name he has ever since been known. St.
Paul alludes to it as a subject with which the Thessa-
lonians were weU acquainted on account of his instruc-
tions ; " Eemember ye not," he adds, " that, when I
was yet with you, I told you these things ? And now
ye know what withholdeth." And St. John in like
manner speaks of it as something which was familiarly
known to those early Christians to whom he wrote,
" Little children, it is the last time : and as ye have
heard that the Antichrist shall come."

Now what I wish to observe is, that these Apostles
had evidently made the coming of this wicked man one
of the great subjects of their teaching ; that when they

850 THE AITTIOHBIST.

instructed their disciples on the doctrines of Christ,
they gave them warnings about the "man of sin."
Because, if it appeared necessary or desirable for the
Apostles to do so in those early days, it seems as if
it must be the duty of Christian ministers at all times
to do the same, to warn their flocks, and instruct them
respecting the great enemy of Christ, the wolf that
shall lay waste the Christian fold.

But when they search into it, in order that they
may teach, they find that they can learn nothing on
this awful and important matter, beyond these acci-
dental allusioiis to it as to a subject once well known.
And when we come to inquire of the early writers
of the Church in aflber times, one or two himdred
years later, we find that they knew no more than our-
selves, having no information beyond what is contained
in these passages of St. Paul ; and though they were
always on the look-out for the coming of this wicked
one, and warning others respecting him ; yet they saj
that although it is evident that the first Christians must
have known more respecting him, and also of the power
that withholdeth, or hinders his coming for a time, yet
that knowledge had entirely perished. Por St, Paul
says to the Thessalonians, " And now ye know what
withholdeth," but the Church, ever since that time,
has not known what it is which keeps down, and pre-
vents the appearance of, that wicked one.

But now we find that there is no important subject
revealed *n Scripture which stands altogether single
and alone, but when we have been informed of it, we
then see that there are other places in Scripture where
it is more or less alluded to or implied. I will there-
fore mention some places which have always been
supposed by the Church to speak of this wicked man.

THE ANTICHEI8T. 351

Our Lord says to the Jews in St. John's Gospel, " I
am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me
not ; if another shall come in his own name, him ye
wiD receive *." And in speaking of the end of the
world He says, " When ye therefore shall see the abo-
mination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the pro-
phet, stand in the holy place ; whoso readeth, let him
understand *." The word " abomination " in Scripture
often means an idol, as we read of the abomination of
the Sidonians, and the like ; that is, the idol-god which
they worshipped. So that our Lord speaks of " the son
of perdition" probably under this name. And this is
in other words, as St. Paul describes "the man of sin ;"
"Who opposeth," he says, "and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so
that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God." There are many things on this
subject in the Prophet Daniel, and in the Eevelation
of St. John, but which are difficult to understand or
explain. He is spoken of in both of these as the one
that " goeth into perdition ;" and also, that he shall
prevail against, and overcome, the saints ; that is, the
people of God, or Christians. This overcoming does
not necessarily mean that he should conquer them in
battle, or any thing of that sort, but that he will deceive
them to their ruin. St. Paul says of him, " Whose com-
ing is after the working of Satan, with all power and
signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish." An expression
of St. John in the Eevelation is still more strong and
fearful than this ; in speaking of that time when this
wicked man will be revealed, he describes Satan during

» St. John v. 43. « St. Matt xxiv. 15.

352 THE AITTICHBIST.

the whole period of the Christian Church as being
bound or chained hj the mighty power of God, but at
the end of the world, he says, he " shall be unloosed
for a short season." Our Lord in His discourse on
the Mount of Olives, says much of this short season so
terrible. " For then," He says, " shall be great tribu-
lation, such as was not from the beginning of the
creation which God created unto this time, neither
shall be ; and except that the Lord had shortened the
days, no flesh should be saved; but for the elect's
sake, whom He hath chosen. He hath shortened the
days." In these places the time is spoken of as being
short, and from some expressions in Daniel and St.
John's Eevelation it has always been supposed that it
will only be for three years and a half.

But now this question will at once occur to us, if it
is only to be for three years and a half how was it of
so much concern to the early Christians, that apostles
should warn them so much respecting his coming, and
to ourselves now, for we probably may not live to see
that time ? And again, if this great masterpiece of
Satan, which he has been preparing ever since our
Lord's Incarnation, this one who is to have the " eyes
of man," as Daniel says, although Satan will dwell in
him bodily, and give him all power of miracles and
lying wonders, so that he will be worshipped as a Gbd;
yet still, if it is but one man, and he only continues in
full power for so short a time, this can be no great
concern to the whole body of Christians of all times.
If, for instance, he was to rise at the other end of the
world, what concern could he be to the poor of this
parish? how could they belong to him, unto their
utter condemnation ? In short, how could this be a
matter of such infinite importance to every Christian

THE -LNTICHBIST. 353

of all times, from those Thessalonians wbom St. Paul
warned even unto the end ?

If we look to the passages we have been considering^
we shall see the reason of this. Our blessed Lord
Himself only went about preaching for three jears or
three years and a half; He only appeared once in a dis-
tant country, for a short time, m^y hundred yeara
ago ; yet we hope that we belong to Him ; that we are
most intimately united to Him, as much so as those
who saw His face in the flesh ; that we are made parts
of His Body, partake of His Spirit, have our very life
hid with Him in Gk)d ; are knit to Him, are one with
Him. In like manner it appears that bad men in all
ages of the world may have some connexion with this
wicked one ; and although they know it not, and think
not of it, are all like limbs of one body, of which he is
the head ; even from Cain, the first murderer, unto
the end. It is thus described by good men of old.

Thus St. John in his Epistle says, " this is that
spirit of the Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
should come ; and even now already is it in the world."
And in another place, ''as ye have heard that the
Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Anti-
christs." Even in that early Church, so holy and
good, the very pattern to which we look, there were
many that belonged to that son of perdition who has
not yet appeared. And even then his mark was found.
The spirit of the Antichri&t was then afiecting men's
minds so long before he appeared. In like manner
St. Paul, when he says that wicked one shall eome,
adds, and "the mystery of iniquity doth already work."
There was some great Be<»ret of wickedness which was
connected with that wicked (me already at work, and

Aa

354 THE AirriGHBIST.

BO doubt baa been at work ever since, but kept under
by some constraining power.

The nature also, and the extent of this wickedness,
is mentioned. Thus St. John says, " "Who is a liar but
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? He is anti-
christ that denieth the Father and the Son." And
again, " Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is of God ; and every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is
not of God : and this is that spirit " or mark " of Anti-
christ." Now here every good Christian who will be
saved in Christ is described as confessing the Son of
God : and it will be seen in these passages that con-
fessing the Son is the same as being guided by His
Spirit, and so being found in Christ, And all who are
not saved in Christ are said to be those that deny the
Son, and they all belong, it is said, to Antichrist. And
the same thing is stated in the Eevelation, after another
manner, where this Antichrist is described. " And all
that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb,
slain from the foundation of the world." So that it is
clear that whoever does not belong to Christ by living
in His Spirit, and being incorporated into His Body,
does belong to the great body of Antichrist that
wicked one which is to be revealed. So that we may
see it is not a distant matter, nor one that is limited
and confined to a short space and a short time * but it
is the working of that secret disease within the Church
which will at last break out upon the surface and wiU
then be so intolerable that God will at once put a
stop to the world. " For the elect's sake He will shorten
the days;" "for a short work will the Lord make

THE AlfTIOHBIST. 355

upon the earth ;" " He will hasten to cut it short in
righteousness."

Nothing therefore can be more dangerous and un-
suitable in a Christian teacher than to put awaj from
ourselves this name and spirit of Antichrist ; as if it
were something afar off, belonging to another age
or nation; for whatever it may be, it doubtless is
at work in our own country, in our own parish, in our
own family and household, and, if we do not take great
care, in our own heart ; for whatever does not bear the
mark of Christ Crucified, does bear the mark of His
great enemy, who is some day to be manifested upon
earth with all the power of Satan, and to be admired
and worshipped as God, and to prevail ; — until the Lord
shall destroy him " by the breath of His mouth," and
"the brightness of His coming."

The same will appear in St. Paul's description, as it
does in St. John ; and here it is more evident in the
original Greek than in the English, where it is not
" the wicked one," but " the lawless one." St. Paul
says, " when that which hindereth is taken out of the
way, then shall the lawless one be revealed," for " the
mystery of the lawlessness is already at work." What
St. John calls " the Antichrist," St. Paul names " the
lawless one ;" and what St. John mentions as " the
spirit of Antichrist already come," St. Paul describes
as " the mystery of the lawlessness already working."
EvjBU from that time till now corruption has been
working against the law and the Spirit of Christ, which
will at length give rise to His great enemy in the flesh.
And this word "lawlessness" is the same which our
Lord Himself uses respecting it, which is translated in
our version " iniquity," " because that iniquity shall
abound," i.e. that "the lawlessness shall abound" o^V^^
iLa2

356 THE ANTICHRIST.

multiplied, " love shall wax cold." *' The mystery of the
lawlessness is working," says St. Paul ; and because
men received not the love of the truth, Q-od shall send
on them a strong delusion, and they shall believe " the
lie," or " the false one."

This gathering together through all Christian times
of a vast multitude who belong to that wicked one who
is to appear at last is set forth in many parts of Scrip-
ture ; and especially in the Eevelation of St. John. It
is there represented that Satan has disappeared from
sight who used to possess the bodies of men, and to be
worshipped in idol temples, and speak through Hea-
then oracles; he is said to be bound by a chain, but
that now he is working secretly in drawing men off
from the love and the law of Christ, and when he has
sufficiently prevailed he will again be manifest, he will
draw all men to him, except a small remnant, by raising
up the wicked one, the man of sin, and causing him to
be worshipped; and as the Eevelation describes it,
'' Satan will himself be let loose for a short season ;"
what our Lord calls "the great tribulation." Through-
out the Eevelation there seems to be a secret gather-
ing, as for a great battle at the end; a mustenng
together throughout the whole period of Christianity
which will at last be revealed. " The spirits of devils,"
it is said, " shall go forth imto the whole world, to
gather them to the battle of the great day of God Al-
mighty." " Blessed is he that watcheth." And again
it is said, " Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and
shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth. Grog and Magog, to gather them
together to battle ; the number of whom is as the sand
of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the
earth, and comp«c&^ed t\ie ci&m^ of the saints about, and

THE ANTICHEIST. 357

the beloved city." The words " Gog and Magog "do not
mean any particular place or nation, but are spiritual
or mystical expressions, meaning hiding-places; it
means the wickedness which is now kept under and
hidden will be revealed ; and " the camp of the saints "
does not mean any particular place, but good people,
wherever they are to be found. As our Lord says,
of the same, " Then shall many be offended, and shall
betray one another, and shall hate one another."
" The brother shall betray the brother to death, and
the father the son." But by using the words " Gog
and Magog," St. John means to say that the account
of it all wiU be found under those names in the Pro-
phet Ezekiel. For Ezekiel, throughout some long
chapters, describes some great and fearful conflict
which is to take place, he says, " in the latter days ;" and
although it is known to be the account of the over-
flowings of ungodliness, yet it has never been under-
stood.

Now it is not at all known what it is that lets or
hinders the manifestation of the wicked one, for though
St. Paul says to the Thessalonians, " And now ye know
what withholdeth," showing that the Apostles had
then explained it, yet it has never been known since.
But in the early Church many thought it was the
Heathen Eoman Empire ; and nothing can show more
strongly the terrible alarm of the early Christians
respecting this " the man of sin," " the son of per-
dition," than this, that we find it mentioned ', that
they used to pray for the safety of the Eoman Empire,
and exhorted one another to do so, because it was sup-
posed to be the power that hindereth the coming of

* As by St. Augustine, TertuUlaQ) L«.c\axL\.vn&.

858 THE AKTICHBIST.

the wicked one. They prayed for the continuance
even of that Heathen idolatrous empire which at that
very time was persecuting them, and putting to cruel
deaths those early martyrs, because some supposed
that when it was taken away would come the great
enemy of Christ. That the Roman empire was the
power that hindered was only the opinion of some, who
at the same time say that there was also another
opinion, that it was the good Spirit of God and His
Church that hindered. Now time has shown that it
was not the Heathen empire of Eome that hindered,
because that has long ago ceased to exist, and the
Lawless one is not yet come; and therefore it may
be that the Church of God is that power which still
keeps under the outbreaking of infidelity. There are
many places in Scripture which render this opinion
probable with some explanation. And I think, if we
might venture to judge at all for ourselves on such a
subject, we should be disposed to think that the
Church visible throughout the world, however corrupt
it is and unfaithful to her high calling, nay, even a»
Scripture describes the Holy City of old " adulterous "
in God's sight from its loving the world more than
God, yet, I say, that notwithstanding all this, it keeps
down the spirit of lawlessness, the great revelation of
the man of sin.

However that may be, this is certain, that from the
times of St. John and St. Paul there has been going
on the secret working of some great wickedness, and
that when it is sufficiently strong it will break out in
such a manner as to make all the tribulation and all
the wickedness that has ever been in the world, and all
the horrors of the worst days, to be as nothing in com-
parison with it. Oi 's^^L'a.^i iMi.\.\rcfe*^'^^\i^\^ W^oasible

THE ANTICHEIST. 359

for US to conceive. We might long to know more
about this wicked one, and might think ourselves very
wise if we could find out. But it is impossible. Nor
can any human wit, or learning, or power, afford the
slightest protection or escape. "Fear, and the pit,
and the snare," says Isaiah, speaking of it, " are upon
thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to
pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear
shall fall into the pit ; and he that cometh up out of
the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare*."

But although it is not given to us to know respecting
this wicked one, yet what is of far greater importance,
we can avoid having on us his mark, as Holy Scrip-
ture calls it ; for every one that has on him the mark
of this wicked one, the son of perdition, St. John says in
the Eevelation, will be cast into the lake burning with
fire and brimstone ^ It is impossible, I say, for human
ability to escape the snare, for it is called the " strong de-
lusion," " all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish." His " coming" is said to be " after the
working of Satan with all power," the effect of seducing
spirits that will go forth to deceive. But all this we
are told will come upon men because they love not
the truth. Human wit cannot save us, but the
love of God will. It is from the love of God waxing
cold that it will take its rise. It will be on account of
great corruption and wickedness that God will with-
draw His protection ; then Satan will have his will
and prevail, and will bring forth the man of sin.

We have witnessed many instances of this in what
may be called a small and limited scale. A great many
countries, once Christian, comprehending many places

* Isa. xxiv. 18. • Rev. xiv. 9, 10,

360 THE AirriCHBIST.

where the Apostles founded churcbes, and which long
continued as bright lights of the world ; yet now tboae
countries for many hundred years have been followen
of the false Prophet Mahomet, a sensual and nnpiin-
cipled impostor. But what was the reason of tlieir
being given over to such a strange delusion as thii?
It was in this case, because they had become so lerj
corrupt before, idolatrous and sensual. Something of
the same kind is now going on in America, in what is
called Mormonism, they receive a great impostor,
because their minds were before prepared for him.
We know to what an extent the god of this world, the
spirit of mammon, had eaten out the heart of true
Christian faith, before this great manifestation of
infidelity went out from among them. For we may
be sure that God would never allow such an in&toa-
tion as this to prevail, were not men before veiy far
gone from the love of the truth. Many instances of
this kind might be mentioned to show that when fidae
prophets arise and deceive many, it is on account of
men in those countries provoking God by sins before-
hand ; and therefore that it is according to the usual
mode of God's dealing, that great wickedness will first
spread and deepen, before He will give men over to the
coming of the wicked one.

But I forbear mentioning these because it is not
desirable to speculate and send our thoughts abroad on
this great mystery, but to bring it home to ourselves.
There are already, says St. John, many Antichrists,
and the spirit of Antichrist is already come. This
therefore is what the Eevelation calls the mark of
belonging to the son of perdition. And what is it P
St. John explains, it is he says, " he that confesseth
not that Jesus Clatist \"a eom^i m t\v"a fleah,*' for " eveiy

THE AITTICHEIST. 861

spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh is of God." And again, " He is Antichrist that
denieth the Father and the Son." And we know what
our Lord Himself says in the Gospels on denying and
confessing Him, that he that denieth Him shall be
denied before the angels of God : and he that confesseth
Him shall be acknowledged by Him at the last day.
And in the same places our Lord explains what it is to
deny or to confess Him : — that to love father or mother
or any thing in the world more than Him is to be not
worthy of Him. To confess Christ as our God come
in the flesh is to hold to Him in all things in a manner
worthy of Him. Wonderful and great is the power of
him who in faith abides in Him as God, " The spirit
of the Antichrist is in the world," says St. John, " but
greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the
world." So much greater is the power of Christ than
that of the wicked one, that Christ is said to destroy
him by " the breath of His mouth." So that very
great indeed is our strength if we abide in Him. The
power and fearfulness of Antichrist is far beyond any
thing we are apt to conceive of him ; yefc compared
with the power of Christ it is absolutely nothing.
How then shall we escape, if we neglect so great sal-
vation ? Confessing Christ come in the flesh means
believing Christ to be God ; no belief in Him short of
this is what St. John means, or is a saving fiiith. It
is a faith and a confession in which we are to grow
more and more, being made by it a part of His living
Body, partaking of His life, and, as our Lord Himself
s^s, abiding in Him as the branch abides in the vine.
This is our safety.

If again we turn to St. Paul's description he says,
" The lawless one " cometh, and " the mystery of lawl<a«ap

362 THE AltTTICHBTST.

ness already worketh until that wicked one shall be
revealed," The mystery of lawlessness, that must
mean some secret working of disobedience. The law
of God gives light and converts the soul ; the laws of
Scripture, the laws of Christ's kingdom on earth, the
laws of the Church, and even in some degree the Mm
of human government, are laws of God, which we are
commanded to obey for conscience' sake. But the
law of all laws, the highest and best of all laws, is that
of the Spirit of God dwelling within us. Por even
by natural conscience, St. Paul says, that the heathen
are a law unto themselves. How much more is the
perfect law of God's Spirit within us ? Surely it is
in obeying this most of all. even in the most trivial
matter, that we shall be furthest from the spirit of
Antichrist. Obedience to the law of Christ, whereso-
ever it will carry us, in all matters, bringing eveiy
thought into His obedience; this is being armed
against the evil day.

A consideration of these times which are to come
is calculated to have a very sobering and chasteniBg
effect upon our minds ; the Jews of old looked forward
to a bright earthly future because they expected in the
flesh the great Deliverer of mankind, the King of
Israel and His kingdom of peace ; they had high hopes
in looking forward, and therefore they thought much
of leaving children behind them and an inheritance in
that holy land where the promised Messiah was
expected. But the reverse of all this is the case with
the Christian ; all that he has to look forward to on
earth before the coming of the Judge are days of evil
such as never before have been, and with them the
wicked one being revealed. His earthly hopes are cut
off and covered with a black doud, in order that his

THE ANTICHBTST. 363

treasure may be elsewhere and his heart more turned to
Heaven. For this reason it is to be lamented that
those which were once Apostolic warnings, sounding
throughout the Church, have so much ceased among
lis. And Christians have been on all sides looking
forward to great things upon earth, which has become
a great snare to them, leading to impatience and vain,
visionary hopes of all kind. Some for earthly liberty,
not considering that nothing comes more near to what
Scripture calls " lawlessness," which is to prepare the
way for the son of perdition. Some think themselves
worthy of nothing less than an infallible Church, and
sure light, and constant miracles, to prove to them
how much God is with them, that seeking for a sign
which made our Lord to sigh deeply in spirit, knowing
how much it would be so when Antichrist would come
in with seducing spirits, and lying wonders, and very
high promises. And surely the common evils of life
must have lost much of their power to one who con-
siders what is to be on earth before Christ appears ;
for what are riches, and honour in such a world ?
What is more calculated to teach us in all things
moderation of mind ? Death is awful, but it loses
half its terrors when considered as delivering us from
the evil to come upon the earth. This is often alluded to
in the Scriptures. It is in speaking of the temptations
of Antichrist, and of those that receive his mark being
tormented in fire and brimstone for ever and ever,
that it is said in the Revelation, " I heard a voice from
Heaven saying, Blessed are the dead that die in the
Lord." Blessed indeed will be the dead at that time
who have escaped the snare and the sufferings which
will be upon the earth. " Wherefpre I praised the
dead which are already dead more than the living."

364 THE AJfTTIOHBIST.

Another consideration wliicli this subject will sug-
gest to U8 is great care for the young, those who ne
more likely than ourselves to see those days. That
they should be baptized and instructed and confirmed.
That they should be strengthened in good principlefl,
and for no prospect of worldly advantage exposed to
temptation. And that when we can do nothing else
we should not cease to pray for them, knowing not
what trials they may have to undergo. An early
writer ® speaks of Antichrist as that wicked one who
shall put out the sun of this world. This well
expresses what Scripture leads us to expect of all spi-
ritual light being in a great manner lost at that time.
*' His kingdom," says St. John in the fievelation,
*^ was full of darkness." And in allusion to this our
Lord Himself seems to say, " Yet a little while is the
light with you, walk while ye have the light, lest dark-
ness come upon you." "While ye have the light,
believe in the light, and walk as children of the light."

Indeed another great advantage we shall gain by
bearing in mind the coming of those evil days is this,
that we shall better understand the Holy Scriptures ;
for they speak very much throughout of those last
days. In the Prophets there are whole chapters on
the subject ; but more particularly are there frequent
allusions to it even when other lesser matters are
spoken of. It has been supposed that the Psalms
throughout have an especial reference to the man of
sin and his days. An ancient writer in explaining
the Book of Job interprets many things of the
son of perdition. These passages in the Scriptures
need not be mentioned, because if your minds are

THE ANTICHEIST. 365

deeply impressed with this expectation as Christians
used to be you will see it for yourselves, and in the
daily reading of the Psalms it will give a force and
moMiing to many expressions more than you have
been used to see in them.

But like a shadow from the heat, a covert from the
storm, a resting-place in the water-floods, a light most
welcome in the darkness, a delight and counsellor, will
be the four Grospels, and what- you read therein of
Jesus Christ going about and doing good, and healing
all that were oppressed of the devil. May we think
of these things till we find more and more no consola-
tion on earth equal to that of reading the Holy Scrip-
tures, and communion with God in prayer, and in His
blessed Sacraments.

THE END.

QlLBfiRT AND BIYINOTON, P&INTBSS, ST. JOHN'S SQUaRS, LOMDOX.

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Rev. WILLIAM CURETON, M.A., F.R.S., Chaplain in Ordi-
nary to the Queen, and Canon of Westminster. In royal 8vo. 9s.

XVIII.

PAROCHIAL SERMONS. By the Rev. GREVILLE
PHILLIMORE, M.A., Vicar of Down Ampney ; formerly Student
of Christ Church, Oxford. In 12mo. 6s.

XIX.

The Fourth Edition of the BISHOPRIC of SOULS.
By the Rev. ROBERT WILSON EVANS, B.A., formerly
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge ; Author of the " Rectory
of Valchead." In small 8vo. 5^

XX.

The POETICAL WORKS of EDMUND PEEL. In

small 8vo. 78. 6d.

■k

BOOKS PUBLISHED

xzi.

DISCOURSES : chiefly deduced from the GOSPELS and
EPISTLES of the SUNDAYS and FESTI V AI A By the Bct.
JAMES REYNOLDS, RA., M.R.A.a, Sec, Perpetnal Cnnte
of St. Mary's Hospital Chapel, Great Bford, Essex. In small 8to.
58. Sd.

XXII.

The DOCTRINE of the GREEK ARTICLE appUed to the
CRITICISM and ILLUSTRATION of the NEW TESTA-
MENT. By the late BISHOP MIDDLETON. With Pre-
fatory Ohsenrations and Notes, by HUGH JAMES ROSE, B.D^
late Principal of Eing*s College, London, ^ew Edition, In 8to.

129.

XXIII.

A SERIES of SERMONS on the EPISTLE and GOS-
PEL for each SUNDAY in the YEAR, and the HOLY DAYS
of the CHURCH. By the Rev. ISAAC WILLIAMS, B.D.,l*te
Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford ; Author of a ^' Harmony of
the Gospels, with Reflections, in 8 Yols.** Second JEdOiom, In
3 vols, small 8vo. I69. 6d,

V Th« Th^rd Volume (on the SAINTS' DAYS and other HOLY ..
DAYS) may be had separately. 6». W.

XXIV.

An ILLUSTRATED EDITION of SACRED ALLE-

GORIES. Contents :— The Shadow of the Cross— The Distant
Hills— The Old Man's Home ; and The King's Messengers. Bj
the Rev. WILLIAM ADAMS, M.A., late Fellow o? Merton
College, Oxford. In small 4to. 25«. m eloth^ffiU; or bound n
tnoroooo hy Hayday^ 38f.
\* This New Edition eoniains numerous Engravinge on Wood

from Original Designs by C.W. Copb, R.A. ; L C. Horslxt, A.R.A.;

Samuel Palmer; Birkett Foster; and Gborgx E. Hicks.

XXV.

SOME ACCOUNT of the EXTERNAL GOVERNMENT
and DISCIPLINE of the CHURCH of CHRIST during the
FIRST THREE CENTURIES. By JOHN KAYE, D.D.,
late Lord Bishop of Lincoln. In Bvo. 5s.

DIVINE LOVE in CREATION and REDEMPTION:
a COURSE of SERMONS, from Septuagesima to Trinity. By
HENRY ALFORD, B.D., Minister of Quebec Chapel, London;
and late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. In small 8vo. fit.

BY MESSRS. RIVINGTON.

xxvu.
CHRISTIAN THEISM: the TESTIMONY of REASON
and REVELATION to the EXISTENCE and CHARAC-
TER of the SUPREME BEING. By the Rev. ROBERT
ANCHOR THOMPSON, M.A. In 2 vols. 8vo. £1 U.

\* The FIRST BURNETT PRIZE of £1800 was awarded to
this Work,

XXVIII.

A DEVOTIONAL COMMENT on the MORNING and
EVENING SERVICES in the BOOK of COMMON PRAYER,
in a Series of Plain Lectures. By JOHN JAMES, D.D.,
Canon of Peterborough, Author of a " Comment on the Collects,**
and other Works. Second Edition, In 2 vols. 12mo. IO9. 6d,

XXIX.

EVANGELICAL LIFE, as seen in the EXAMPLE of our
LORD JESUS CHRIST. By JOHN JAMES, D.D., Canon
of Peterborough ; Author of a " Comment on the Collects," and
other Works. Second Edition, In 12mo. 78, 6d.

XXX.

The CHERRY-STONES; or, the FORCE of CON-
SCIENCE: a Tale for Youth. Partly from the MSS. of the
Rev. WILLIAM ADAMS, Author of " The Shadow of the
Cross," &c. Edited by the Rev. H. C. ADAMS. Fourth
Edition, In small 8vo. 3s. 6d,

XXXI.

SERMONS, preached at St. Mary's, Oxford. By the Rev.
CHARLES PAGE EDEN, M.A., Vicar of Aberford, late Fel-
low of Oriel College, and Vicar of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford.
In small 8vo. 5^. Bd,

XXXII.

ENGLAND'S SACRED SYNODS; a Constitutional
History of the CONVOCATIONS of the CLERGY, from the
Earliest Records of Christianity in Britain to the Date of the
Promulnition of the Book of Common Prayer. Including a List
of all the Councils of the Clergy held in England. By JAMES
W AYLAND JOYCE, M. A., formerly Student of Christ Church,
Oxford, Rector of Burford (Third Portion). In 8vo. 25s.

XXXIII.

The SAMPLER, a System of Teaching PLAIN NEEDLE-
WORK in SCHOOLS. By the LADY ELIZABETH
FINCH. Second Edition, With Illustrative Engravings. In
small 8vo. 4s. 6d.
%* BLANK FORMS for registering the progress of the Work

may be had. 6d, per dozen.

BOOKS PUBLISHED

XXXIV.

The FELLOW-TRAVELLERS: or MARRIED LIFE; \

Notices of the Duty, Honour, and Happiness of that State, and
the mutual Recognition of the pious Husband and Wife in the
heavenly World to come ; with some Helps for joint Devotion. I
Also, Two Forms of Intercession for Relatives at the Seat of War.
By G. W. TYRRELL, M.A., Rural Dean of Belfast, Rector of '
Drumheg, and formerly Examining Chaplain to the late Bishop
of the Piocese. In 16mo. 5s. j

The COMMUNION of the LAITY: an ESSAY, chiefly

Historical, on the Rule and Practice of the Church with respect to
the Reception of the Consecrated Elements, at the Oelehration of
the HOLY EUCHARIST. By W. E. SCUDAMORE, M.A.,
Rector of Ditchingham, and late Fellow of St. John's College, \
Cambridge. In 8vo. 4s. 6d. \

XXXVI. ■

The Fourth Edition of the FIRST FRENCH BOOK;

on the Plan of " Henrv's First Latin Book." By the Rev.
THOMAS KERCHEVER ARNOLD, M.A., late Rector of
Lyndon, and formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. In
12mo. 5s. ed.

XXXVII. '

The Third Series of PAROCHUL SERMONS, preached ^
in the Parish Church of Heversham, Westmoreland. By the Rev.
ROBERT WILSON EVANS, B.D., Archdeacon of Westmore-
land ; formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge ; and Author ■
of " The Rectory of Valehead,'' and ** The Bishopric of Souk" I
In small 8vo. 5^. I

Also, The FIRST and SECOND VOLUMES. Price 5s. each.

XXXVIII. 1

MEDITATIONS and PRAYERS on the ORDINATION I

SERVICE for PRIESTS. By the Rev. J. H. PINDER, M. A, |

Principal of Wells Theological College. In small 8vo. ds.dd. i

AlsOy by the same Author ^ lately published^

MEDITATIONS and PRAYERS on the ORDINATION SEE- '

VICE for DEACONS. 3s. 6d.

.
XXXIX. 11

A Second Series of QUEBEC CHAPEL SERMONS, 'l

preached in the Latter Half of 1854. By HENRY ALFORD, ,

B.D.,. Minister of the Chapel; Editor of a New Edition of the '

Greek Testament, with English Notes. In small Bvo. 5s, i

Also, The FIRST SERIES, for the Former Half of 1854. 7s. 6d.

BY MESSRS. RIVINGTON.

The CHRISTIAN CHARACTER ; Six Sermons preached
in LENT. Bv JOHN JACKSON, D.D., Lord Bishop of Lin-
coln. Fifth EdUion, In small 8vo. 3s. 6<^.

XLI.

WAYFARINGS in CHRIST; a Selection of SERMONS

preached in St. Philip's Chapel, Regent Street. By the Rev.
G. D. HILL, M.A., Evening Preacher at Grosvenor Chapel,
South Audley Street. In 12mo. 4s.

A READING COMPANION to the FIRST GERMAN

BOOK ; containing Extracts from the best Authors, with a copious
Vocabulary and Explanatory Notes. By the Rev. THOMAS
KERCHEVER ARNOLD, M.A., late Rector of Lyndon, and
formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and J. W.
FRADERSDORFF, Dr. Phil. Second EdUion, In 12mo. 4*.

XLIII.

NINE CHARGES delivered to the CLERGY of the
DIOCESE of LINCOLN; with SOME OTHER WORKS.
By JOHN KAYE, D.D., late Lord Bishop of Lincoln. Edited
by his SON. In 8vo. 10«. 6rf.

Second Edition of SELECTIONS from €ICERO,
with ENGLISH NOTES. PartL: From the ORATIONS;
containing theJPourth Book of the Impeachment of Yerres, the
Four Speeches against Catiline, and the Speech for the Poet
Archias. The Notes are taken from several excellent Editions
well known in Germany, including those of Orelli^ Zumpt, MatthuB^
and Klotz. Edited by THOMAS KERCHEVER ARNOLD,
M.A., late Rector of Lyndon, and formerly Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge. In 12mo. 49.

PAROCHIAL LECTURES on POETRY and other SUB-
JKCTS. By the Rev. EDWARD MONRO, Incumbent of
HaiTow Weald, Middlesex; Author of "Parochial Work,*' " The
Parish,"' and other Works. In small 8vo. ^8, 6d,

TheTHiRD Volume of PAROCHIAL SERMONS, preached

in the Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Dover. By the
Rev. JOHN PUCKLE, M.A., Incumbent of the Parish, and
Rural Dean. In 8vo. 9$,

\

8 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. RIVINGTON.

ZLYII.

ENGLAND and ROME ; a DUcussion of the PRINCIPAL
DOCTRINES and PASSAGES of HISTORY in comnoB
Debate between the Memben of the Two COMMUNION& fij
W. E. SCUDAMORE, M.A., Rector of Ditchingham, and Utt
Fellow of St. John*8 College, Cambridge. In 8vo. lOi. 6d,

SICKNESS : its TRIALS and BLESSINGS. Hfth EdiiioL
In small 8vo. 5s.

XLIX.

QUESTIONS illustrating the THIRTY-NINE ARTI-
CLES of the CHURCH of ENGLAND: with Prooft from
Scripture and the Primitive Church. By the Rev. EDWARD
BICKERSTETH, M.A., Archdeacon of Buckingham, and Vicar
of Aylesbury. Fourth Edition. In 12mo. 3s. 6^.

The GOSPEL NARRATIVE of OUR LORD'S RESUR-
RECTION HARMONIZED: with Reflections. By the Rev.
ISAAC WILLIAMS, B.D., late Fellow of Trinity College,
Oxford. Second Edition, In small 8vo. Is,

LI.

GROTIUS de VERITATE RELIGIONIS CHRISTI-
ANS. With ENGLISH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
By the Rev. J. E. MIDDLETON, M.A., of Trinity CoUege,
Cambridge ; Lecturer on Theology at St. Bees* College. Seowd
Edition, In 12mo. 69.

LII.

PRACTICAL RELIGION EXEMPLIFIED, by Letters
and Passages from the Life of the late Rev. ROBERT
ANDERSON, of Brighton. By the Hon. Mrs. ANDERSON.
Sixth Edition. In smsal 8vo. 4*.

Lin.

The Fifth Edition of A MANUAL of the RUDIMENTS
of THEOLOGY ; containinflr an Abridgment of Bp. Tomline's
Elements ; an Analysis of raley*8 Evidences ; a Summary of
Pearson on the Creed ; and a Brief Elxposition of the Thirty-nine
Articles, chiefly from Burnet; Notices of Jewish Rites and Cere-
monies, &c. By the Rev. J. B. SMITH, D.D., formeriy of
Christ's College, Cambridge; late Head Master of Homcastle
Grammar School. In 12mo. 7«. 6rf.

/e

i 1